Domestic

Home page

Domestic

Azerbaijan intends to legalize IP telephony

24 December 2007 15:32 (UTC +04:00)

Ali Abbasov, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, says developments have changed their attitude to the tariff policy and prompted them to revise the program.
"Our research shows that today Internet traffic is much higher than international call traffic. There is growing interest in IP telephony services. Previously, the use of the technology was seen as violation of the law, but today it is practically impossible to restrain development. There is a need to change the legislative framework for the development of new technologies in the republic. We believe that the voice data transmission based on Internet technology need legalizing and legitimizing," says Mr. Abbasov.

How attractive IP Telephony is?

IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) is a general term for the technologies that use the Internet Protocolâ€™s packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
IP Telephony enjoys all the advantages of Internet-based transmission in terms of direct and fast data switch.
Because the telephone operator is uninvolved in IP Telephony communications, it is much more low-priced than traditional phone connections.
Customers having a computer audio input / output (headphone and microphone) an ordinary phone in anywhere around the world phone can enjoy direct communication.
The key is the gateway connected with telephone lines can connect to any phone world. On the other hand, the gateway connected to the Internet can connect to any computer in the world. Server receives a standard phone signal, digitizes it, compresses without much loss in quality, splits into packets and sends the packets over the Internet to destination using Internet protocol (TCP / IP).
This type of connection costs 30-40% cheaper than the traditional voice channel. According to specialists, IP telephony is not only beneficial but also very convenient.
Initially, the increased interest in IP telephony was due to substantial savings on international and intercity calls through long-distance telecommunications operators. But now vendors are increasingly focus not on the economy but on the new service capabilities of this technology.

Growth pace of IP Telephony

World practice shows that todayâ€™s IP telephony gradually replaces traditional telephone communications. Most major operatorsâ€™ large projects are based on transition to IP technology and introduction of IP services.
Today, more than half the worldâ€™s international traffic is transmitted via IP, whereas in 2000 the share of the IP telephony accounted for 1%, 18% in 2001 and 33% in 2002.

Experts estimated that in 2006 IP telephony services would reach approximately 35% of all domestic and international calls (ESSL Technologies Company), and by 2010, 50% of all voice calls will be made via the Internet (MCI). As seen here, the rate of development of the IP telephony exceeded the expectations.

The future of IP telephony

In the past two or three years, the world began to develop "subscriber" IP telephony, ie when the subscriber terminal serves as an IP phone or IP gateway, and voice communications service is provided through a broadband IP connection.
As for the future of telecommunications, it is now associated with the acronym, Multimedia Subsystem, IMS-IP. IMS Architecture appeared as architecture 3G networks (mobile networks) and quickly spread to the wired network. Telecom is currently experiencing a period of turning one of the most important aspects of the "great breakthrough" on projections of international experts will be restructuring operator business models, which the world has already begun. The changes affect the market and the media, and content.

Forecasts on IP telephony in Azerbaijan

The ministryâ€™s units will launch the massive development of multi-service network offered as a wired or wireless communications. Currently, Azeurotel, Catel, Aztelecom and Baku Telephone Unit and others offer IP Telephony services.
Today there are mobile phones which operate in Wi-Fi standard to make international calls for free via Skype (a proprietary Internet telephony (VoIP) network). The market has international telecommunication services provided by Internet providers and cafes over Skype or other means but these services are not widespread.
Private companies of Azerbaijan consider licensing IP telephony services as necessary step, saying every operator must take responsibility for the quality of services it provides. At the same time, the licensing process should be thoroughly designed so that the license is not a hard-to-obtain thing. /APA-Economics/