19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 1 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO Telecommunication Manager Chief, Internet and Business Services Division Tel. : (228) / Fax. : (228) IP TELEPHONY : Challenges and Prospects TOGO TELECOM

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 2 CONTENTS I – INTRODUCTION TO IP TELEPHONY II – TECHNICAL ASPECTS III – CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IV - CONCLUSION IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 3 CONTENTS I – INTRODUCTION TO IP TELEPHONY Preliminary remarks Definition(s) II – TECHNICAL ASPECTS Characteristics of the two networks Types of communication Developments IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 4 PRELIMINARY REMARKS The advent of IP telephony is perceived as a fundamental change in telecommunications of the same magnitude as the replacement of the telegraph by the telephone. IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 5 IP telephony is founded on the Internet network using the IP protocol. Conventional telephony is founded on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). PRELIMINARY REMARKS IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 6 In general terms, IP telephony means voice transmission over the public Internet network. Definition IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 7 It is also referred to as voice over IP (VoIP). This service means more or less the same thing, except that in some cases it is not the public Internet network which is used. Definition IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 8 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO NETWORKS Highly reliable High voice transmission quality Real time or synchronous Simultaneous conversation between two points on Earth Relatively reliable Acceptable transmission quality Deferred time or asynchronous Connectionless PSTNIP IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 9 Three main types: Types of communication PC to PC PC to telephone Telephone to telephone IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 10 IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 11 IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects Gateway Public Switch

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 12 IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects Gateway Public Switch

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 13 Development 1994 : First trials of type PC to PC 1996 : Trials of type PC to telephone 1997 : Significant progress Emergence of telephone to telephone 1998 : Integration of voice on the web Emergence of free call centres IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 14 Growth Booming market Estimate international VoIP traffic 1998 : 200 million mins : million mins : million mins : million mins. IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 15 Some forecasts IDC : 1999 : 2.7 billion mins : 135 billion mins. Deltathree.com : 2000 : 16 billion mins : 35% of all international traffic IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 16 III – CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 17 Challenges Large amounts of money at stake Many new entrants Challenges for incumbent operators in Africa? IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 18 Challenges Business opportunities Fear of a fall in turnover IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 19 Business opportunities 1– Internet creates new demand for specialized links. 2 – IP telephony generates national traffic to the Internet network. 3 – Other income from the Internet (e-commerce, website development and hosting, other services). IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 20 IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 21 Business opportunities IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 22 Fall in turnover Revenues from international traffic Revenues from settlement of accounts for international traffic IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 23 Rates 30 to 50% lower Potential fall in turnover for international traffic Examples Fall in turnover IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 24 KPN states that 21% of its traffic is generated by the Internet. Deutsche Telecom states that, in 1998, calls to the Internet increased by 86% to 7.7 billion minutes of traffic, i.e. 164% of all its outgoing international traffic. Fall in turnover IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 25 IP telephony provides a means of bypassing switched networks. IP telephony is not regulated. Possible drain on foreign currency. Fall in turnover IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 26 Fall in turnover Given that international traffic accounts for 30 to 40% of total turnover, and that account settlements may represent up to 30% of turnover, then there are problems ahead for incumbent operators in our developing countries. IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 27 Will depend on: quality of IP telephony tariffs for international calls cost of switched networks legislation Prospects IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 28 If the quality of IP telephony improves, it will become a must, obliging us to think in terms of progressively migrating from switched networks to IP networks. If tariffs for international calls are significantly reduced, then IP telephony may remain marginal. Prospects IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 29 Prospects If the cost of our switched networks is reduced, then competition from IP telephony will be less acute. Finally, the future will also depend on the legislation introduced. IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 30 Conclusion Incumbent operators face severe competition in an area accounting for a large proportion of their turnover. Possible solutions: Tariff rebalancing Increasing teledensity to bring down the costs of the switched network IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 31 Conclusion Establishment of appropriate legislation that takes into consideration the cost of each network Monitoring of the network to avoid bypassing IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 32 Bibliography 1 - ITU Internet reports: IP telephony International Telecommunication Union – Challenges to the network: Internet for development International Telecommunication Union – ITU News IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects

19/04/2001 Abossé AKUE-KPAKPO TOGO TELECOM 33 Bibliography Websites 1 – 2 – IP TELEPHONY: Challenges and Prospects