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AT&T First Major Telecom to Offer Phone Service Over Internet in Rhode Island

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

Jul. 13--AT&T yesterday launched a telephone service in Rhode Island that uses the Internet to carry phone calls.

The service is based on a technology called "voice over Internet protocol," or VoIP, and carries calls over a customer's high-speed Internet connection instead of a telephone line.

The main advantage of Internet-based telephone service is its lower cost for those who make a lot of calls. The service also comes with several unique features, such as the ability to listen to voice-mail messages from any computer.

While a handful of other companies offer a similar service, AT&T is the first major phone company to offer voice-over-Internet service in Rhode Island.

AT&T launched its "CallVantage" service about 4 months ago in 22 states and Washington, D.C. Yesterday, the company expanded service to another seven states, adding Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts, including Fall River and New Bedford. The company said service is now available in 100 major markets.

The offering includes unlimited local and long-distance calling within the United States for $34.95 a month. A promotion that runs through August provides a $15-a-month discount for six months.

The service can be used only in conjunction with a high-speed Internet connection, such as those provided by Cox Communications or Verizon Communications. Such high-speed, or broadband, lines typically cost $30 to $50 a month. About 18.4 percent of households in Rhode Island have broadband service, AT&T said, citing research by TNS Telecoms.

Customers who sign up for CallVantage will receive a telephone adapter -- about the size of an answering machine -- that serves as a bridge between a telephone and a cable or DSL modem. Customers can install it themselves and AT&T said that it should take no longer than 10 minutes.

The adpater can be connected to a single telephone, or to all phones in a house, if wired properly, AT&T said, and callers will hear all the familiar sounds when using the service, such as a dial tone and busy signal.

There are no set-up or equipment charges, except for a $9.95 shipping fee for the telephone adapter. There is a $59.95 early-termination fee assessed if a customer keeps the service longer than 30 days but less than one year, AT&T said.

The company assigns subscribers a local telephone number, although customers can request a number from other markets where the service is available. For example, a Rhode Island subscriber could request a San Francisco telephone number with a 415 area code.

A customer can also choose to keep the current telephone number and have it switched to a CallVantage account.

AT&T is now among a handful of companies that offer Internet telephone service, including Vonage, Packet8 and Broadvox.

Many of the big regional telephone companies, including Verizon, and large cable companies, including Cox, are embracing VoIP technology and have announced plans to launch Internet calling services.

Those generally work the same way and come with similar features, such as voice mail, call logging, call forwarding and conference calling.

They convert a person's voice into digital information and send that data over the Internet, much like e-mail or a Web page.

The technology has been around for nearly a decade, although it has improved dramatically over the past three years. Calls made over the Internet can sound as good, if not better, than those over traditional phone lines.

Some companies offer Internet phone calling for free. One such company, Skype Technologies, lets people make free Internet phone calls through a subscriber's computer to another Skype user.

CallVantage users can listen to voice-mail messages via any computer and a "Locate Me" feature will forward a call to five different phone numbers. Subscribers can also conduct conference calls with up to nine other callers.

The CallVantage service does not work the same as a traditional telephone line when it comes to dialing 911. Subscribers will be connected to the local 911 center, but emergency operators will not know the subscriber's location. With traditional land phones, the caller's phone number and address are displayed on the dispatcher's screen, allowing the operator to send help even if the caller can't speak.

AT&T said that subscribers calling 911 should first give the location and phone number they are calling from.

The company is working on a 911 solution that will transmit the caller's name and phone number to the local 911 center, said Gary Morgenstern, a spokesman for AT&T. He said the company expects it to be in place by the end of the year.

Another downside of the service is that it won't work if there is a power failure. Traditional phone service will often work during an outage because it doesn't rely on electricity supplied by the house.

CallVantage users will have to dial 10 digits for all calls, even those made within their local area code.

Finally, the CallAdvantage service may not work properly with fax machines and computer modems, AT&T said.

Internet-based phone calling is in legal limbo related to regulation. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing whether surcharges that are added to traditional phone lines also apply to Internet calling services.

AT&T said it does not add any surcharges, such as a 911 fee, unless it is required to do so by local governments, Morgenstern said.

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