A Taxonomy of Internet Telephony Applications

There are a broad range of objectives and opportunities that can be lumped under the heading ofInternet Telephony, or ITel. This paper identifies a number of criteria that can be used toseparate these different ITel applications into classes, including the degree of interoperation withthe existing telephone system, and the extent to which the existing Internet must be augmented tosupport them. Using this framework, the paper concludes that different ITel applications havevery different motivations, and have very different implications for industry structure, economicsand regulation. The immediate opportunities for ITel involve cost reductions relative to currenttelephone pricing. The long term trajectory for ITel is to become a new mode of computermediatedhuman communication, which will have profound consequences for the telephoneindustry. This long-term form of ITel will not necessarily grow directly from the products thatare being deployed now, but will come from a number of intermediate developments that can beanticipated over the next several years.