August 2000

We rounded up Internet telephony service providers in our March 1999 issue, and included information on 18 up and comers in this space who were offering some sort of VoIP transport service. The market has exploded since that last roundup, and it would be virtually impossible to list all the players in this segment of the industry. On one hand resides the infrastructure: The backbone providers and Tier One carriers who handle the majority of the long-haul routing of IP voice traffic. Many service providers negotiate network contracts with these carriers and sell the bandwidth to their customers, who may in turn resell it to additional end users. And on the other hand is the new crop of service providers: Those offering value-added applications and services in the VoIP realm.

Application Service Providers (ASPs) are a hot commodity these days, and we couldn't do a service provider roundup without at least mentioning some of the larger players in this space. Internet telephony is beginning to advance beyond the quality of service issues of the past and has moved into its next phase of growth -- with the emphasis on the value-added services that can be offered on top of the next-generation network. We've separated our listing of service providers into ITSPs and ASPs, but we could have included a dozen subcategories under those main headings. The ITSPs generally offer bandwidth for IP voice traffic in either a wholesale or retail capacity, while the ASPs provide the services for accessing that bandwidth or enhanced applications to run over it. Our descriptions of each company are brief, and the best way to find more information is to visit a company's Web site. In many cases, you'll be able to try out their service directly from the Web and judge for yourself whether it's a fit for you or your company.
-- Laura Guevin

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