AT&T to expand Internet telephone service

AT&T to expand Internet telephone service

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) — AT&T, the No. 1 US long- distance phone company, announced Thursday that it will sell Internet telephone service (VoIP) to consumers at a lower cost than conventional phone service next year.

The company has already provided phone services using Internet technology to businesses. Now it plans to expand the service and offer a consumer equivalent in the top 100 US markets next quarter.

AT&T CEO David Dorman, speaking at an investor conference on Thursday, gave some details on its new plan. It comes days after Time Warner, the No. 2 US cable operator, said it would offer a VoIP on its cable systems.

The moves highlight the sudden embrace by telecommunications companies in the United States of an initially derided technology that they now say is destined to shake the competitive foundations of an industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars. For consumers, the shift is likely to mean lower prices and enhanced telephone features with about the same quality of voice delivery.