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Broadband To Transform Role Of Phones, TVs
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The impact of broadband services on such existing technologies as telephones and television was discussed Tuesday at a Global Information Summit panel session on "Network Strategy in the Seamless Era."
Noting the similarity to sending e-mail, Skype Technologies SA board member Howard Hartenbaum said that the Internet and certain software are all that is needed to place a call anywhere in the world free of charge.
Skype has developed software for cost-free Internet phones. The company has attracted 25 million users from word-of-mouth alone, according to Hartenbaum.
"As an engineer, I welcome new technologies" such as Skype's, said Yuji Inoue, senior vice president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (9432), a former state monopoly that still relies heavily on fixed-line phone services for its revenues. "But adequate infrastructure is necessary to use the free software," Inoue said. "NTT provides that infrastructure."
The key to broadband will not be the personal computer, but the TV, according to Mario Mella, network planning director at Italian telecommunications provider Fastweb. He predicted that the TV, which are more common in households, will become the core of the business.
Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Chief Operating Officer Gregory Armstrong said that he wants to create a framework that will enable consumers to make impulse purchases via their TVs.
As for applications of information technology in the in-house computer systems of companies, EMC Corp. Senior Vice President Jeffrey Nick noted the importance of establishing a comprehensive support structure.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition)
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