VOIP Hurt or Helped by AT&T

AT&T is making a move into VOIP. Like other large conglomerates, it is willing to take a financial hit in one aspect of its income in order to directly effect the competition. In other words, AT&T is willing to lose money in order to stop the advancement of VOIP providers like Skype.

AT&T is offering 75 percent discounts for international calls over its VOIP-based CallVantage Softphone Service. Although this does make AT&T a force in the VOIP market, it also undercuts its own landline services.

Being a big corporation allows companies to take a financial hit for the big picture. AT&T will undercut the existing VOIP services and force them out of business – much like many of the mega marts have done to the Mom & Pop stores – and then it will increase its prices to compensate for the financial loss.

Or it could just be that AT&T has seen the wave of the future in VOIP and also the dinosaur of the landline falling to the wayside. Instead of trying to hold on, it is willing to let the landline die a natural death.

With the large telecoms getting into the VOIP service, the industry is sure to see decreasing prices and hopefully increasing services. The over all effect on telecommunications will have to wait a while before this venture in VOIP makes its real marks.