This summer the popular economics journal
The Economist declared that the rise of voice over Internet protocol -- underscored by the eBay-Skype deal -- signaled the end of the telephony
business. A few months later, phone makers like Panasonic, Motorola Inc. and Uniden America are creating new phones with built-in adapters preset to connect to Internet calling services like Skype and
Vonage. These cordless phones communicate with a base station that plugs into either an Internet enabled computer or modem. Newer devices will be able to seamlessly connect to home broadband
connections, cellular networks, or wireless networks at Internet cafes and hotels. Indeed, the end of the landline telephone is near -- and the end of the cellular phone could be right behind it. In
fact, many of these new Internet-enabled phones have similar features to cell phones, like ringtones, color screens, and caller ID. By any standard, the VoIP market is still small: roughly 5 million
people have Internet-enabled phone services compared to 118 million reported residential phone lines. However, analysts expect that number to triple in two years time.
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