China Leapfrogs US, Europe With VOIP Networks
WHILE THE U.S. and Europe have been talking about Internet telephony for the past few years, China has been talking on it. Today, most long-distance phone calls in China take place on networks that use voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, technology. Many new local phone systems in China also are being built with VOIP infrastructure. 'It's not a matter of catch-up' in China, says Gordon Astles, president of Asian-Pacific operations for Cisco Systems Inc., a leading builder of VOIP equipment. 'It's a matter of leapfrog.' As regulators introduced competition into the China market five years ago, new players found that the cheapest way to build a network was to rely on Internet-based equipment rather than traditional switches. They wouldn't have to build exchange buildings every few miles to house switches for each phone line like traditional carriers. And they would be able to intersperse voice traffic with other data. The Chinese government encouraged them by deciding not to set rates for calls on Internet-based networks. At the same time, the broader growth of China's economy triggered huge demand for telephone services. Of the nearly 300 million people with phone service in China today, just over half of them got it in the past four years. All these forces have combined to drive prices for phone service sharply downward in China. Domestic long-distance calls often cost less than a nickel a minute and a call to North America costs about 25 cents a minute, down from $1 a minute a few years ago. The public embrace of VOIP by China's carriers contrasts with the perceived threat the technology holds for carriers in the U.S. and other developed markets. In those places, the established carriers and their regulators are keeping a sharp eye on Internet-service providers. The ISPs, they worry, are encroaching on the traditional turf of big telcos by using VOIP to offer voice connections as an extra feature for broadband data service. And while some big telcos have begun limited use of VOIP, many of them are being quiet about it, often because of the perception that calls carried over the Internet have lower sound quality. That is a far cry from the situation in China, where VOIP networks are marketed widely. Discount-calling cards that access VOIP networks are sold in grocery stores and at newsstands. Consumers also can sign up for VOIP services from their homes or by using five-digit prefix numbers in the manner that discount long-distance services work in the U.S. Newspaper and magazine reviewers test the prepaid and prefix services for sound quality and tell readers about discount offers. 'The technology has become mainstream,' says Andrew Coward, Asian-Pacific vice president of technical operations for Juniper Networks Inc. 'There's profit being generated from it. It's no longer an experiment.' For equipment providers such as Juniper and Cisco, the VOIP network expansion in China cushioned some of the damage inflicted when carriers around the world slashed capital spending after the industry bubble burst in 2000. Cisco helped build China Unicom Ltd.'s VOIP network, which Mr. Astles says is the world's largest by several measurements including reach, stretching to 350 cities. Nortel Networks Corp. recently announced a deal to help China Railcom Co. build a VOIP-based local phone service in Chongqing, China's third-largest city. The VOIP systems also are driving sharp gains in long-distance use for carriers. But because of price competition, they are producing a mixed effect on financial results. China Telecom Corp., the former monopoly that is still the country's largest carrier, said its 2003 domestic long-distance use increased 15% and its VOIP system handled a majority of its long-distance calls -- 29 billion of 54 billion overall minutes -- for the first time. But its long-distance revenue fell 1.2% last year because VOIP calls cost so much less. China Unicom, which was formed in 1994 as China Telecom's first challenger and now provides cellular and long-distance services, began to rely on VOIP for a majority of its long-distance traffic in 2002. Last year, overall long-distance use rose 50% but revenue climbed 2.8% as the company's VOIP network handled 57% of long-distance traffic. China Mobile Ltd., a spinoff from China Telecom, relied on its VOIP network to handle about 40% of its long-distance traffic last year, up from 23% in 2002, a spokesman says. The company doesn't break out revenue and minute use. China's other carriers -- China Railcom, China Netcom Corp. and China Satcom Co. -- don't publicly report operating results and financial performance.
中国网络语音通讯应用领先欧美
过去几年美国和欧洲一直在谈论互联网通讯技术，而中国现在已经在应用这种技术了。 今天，中国的大多数长途电话都是采用网络语音通讯技术(VOIP)通过互联网传输的。中国许多新的本地电话系统也开始建有VOIP所需的基础设施。 思科系统(Cisco Systems Inc.)亚太业务总裁郭思涛(Gordon Astles)说，在VOIP技术的应用上，中国已不是迎头赶上的问题，而是较其他国家领先多少的问题。 自从5年前中国电信市场引入竞争以来，新进入的运营商发现，建设电信网络最节省成本的途径不是采用传统的交换机，而是运用互联网设备。 这样，他们将不再需要每隔几公里建一座传统的电话基站。而且他们还能将语音和其他数据合并传输。为鼓励发展网络通讯，中国政府还决定，不对这种通话设置统一的收费标准。 与此同时，中国经济的全面发展激发了巨大的电话服务需求。今天，中国约有近3亿电话用户，其中超过半数是过去4年新增加的。 在这些因素共同推动下，中国电话服务的价格大幅降低。国内长途电话费每分钟还不到5美分，至北美的国际长途每分钟收费大约合25美分，而几年前还是1美元。 中国的电讯运营商公开支持VOIP技术，这与美国和其他发达国家的运营商形成了鲜明对照，后者担心这种技术将对他们构成威胁。这些国家的大型运营商和政府监管部门对互联网服务供应商(ISP)的一举一动保持着高度关注。 他们担心，通过使用VOIP技术来提供作为宽频数据服务附加功能的语音通讯，这些ISP正在??食大型电讯运营商的传统地盘。虽然有些大型电讯商已开始限制使用VOIP，但仍有许多电讯商对这一技术的使用持默许态度，因为他们通常认为，网络电话的语音质量相对较差。 这种情况跟中国差别很大，在中国，到处都在推广VOIP电话。许多杂货店和报摊都有打折的VOIP电话卡出售。 消费者还可以给家里的固定电话申请VOIP功能，或者在打长途电话前直接拨一个5位数的号码，即可接入VOIP服务，这种方式与美国折扣长途电话服务的模式一样。 Juniper Networks Inc. 亚太分部主管技术工作的副总裁柯华德(Andrew Coward)说，VOIP已经成为主流技术，这种业务已经盈利，它已走出了试验阶段。 而对Juniper和思科等设备供应商而言，中国VOIP网络的扩张在一定程度上为他们减轻了损失，2000年以来，随着电信业泡沫的破裂，全世界的电信运营商都纷纷削减资本支出，令这两家公司大伤元气。思科为中国联通(China Unicom Ltd.)建设了VOIP网络，郭思涛说，按某些指标衡量，该网络是世界最大的。比如从覆盖范围看，这一网络可以连接350个城市。 北电网络(Nortel Networks Corp.)最近也宣布，将为中国铁通(China Railcom Co.)在中国第叁大城市重庆建设本地VOIP电话服务网络。 VOIP的运用也推动运营商的长途电话通话量大幅增长。但由于价格竞争异常激烈，这一增长具体反映在运营商的财务上却是有喜有忧。 中国电信(China Telecom Corp.)说，2003年，其国内长途电话通话量增长了15%，通话总量为540亿分钟，而其中通过VOIP系统进行的通话首次超过半数，达到290亿分钟。但由于VOIP通话资费较低，去年其长话收入却下降了1.2%。中国电信原来是中国唯一的一家电信运营商，现在仍是各家运营商中最大的。 从2002年开始，中国联通(China Unicom)的长途电话就多已是VOIP电话。成立于1994年的这家公司是首个挑战中国电信垄断地位的电信运营商。 去年，联通的长途电话总通话量增加了50%，但收入却下降了2.8%。总通话量有57%是VOIP电话。。 从中国电信分拆出来的中国移动(China Mobile Ltd.)去年有40%的长途通话量来自VOIP，该公司发言人说，2002年的这一比例为23%。该公司没有提供收入和通话量数据。 中国的另外几家电信运营商铁通、网通(China Netcom Corp. )和卫星通信(China Satcom Co.)没有披露经营业绩和财务数据。
