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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 4

Written Answers. - Internet Telephony.

John Gormley

Ceist:

142 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Public Enterprise her views on the scope for the development of Internet telephony in this country in view of recent reports which suggest that this method of telephony may account for 99 per cent of the total telephony market within five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18365/98]

The forecast mentioned by the Deputy that Internet telephony may account for 99 per cent of the total telephony market within five years is optimistic in my view at this time. In fact, the rapid recent growth in mobile telephony globally suggests that mobile technology may well become the dominant mode for voice telephony in the medium to long term.

Notwithstanding this, with the increasing proliferation of digital applicances such as personal computers and the expanding rate of technical innovation, there is no doubt that Internet telephony can play a significant role in the global communications market in the near future.
The extent to which Internet telephony will substitute for traditional telephony is highly uncertain. Internet telephony began in 1995 and should still be regarded as being in development stage. Its principal advantage over traditional telephony is that it provides voice connection for the same price as a data transmission over the Internet.
However, while cheaper than traditional telephony, it still provides a lower standard service in terms of voice quality, turnaround time and general ease of use. The actual cost of Internet telephony depends entirely on the nature of a given user's connection to the Internet. In the case of dedicated access, such as a leased line, the marginal cost of an Internet telephone call is zero while in the case of a dial-up access over the traditional telephone network, the cost is equivalent to the local Internet access dial-up charge.
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