Telecommunications are alledgedly considered to enhance business productivity. Still, whereas new services and tools are widely adopted by residentials, businesses relatively hesitate to migrate to IP services. As a matter of fact, while residentials can see their bill dramatically decrease thanks to triple-play services, « a lot of SMEs and SOHOs find (…) that operator services are too expensive» and do not want to put in balance the traditional corporate reliable telephony. For major accounts, Quality of Service, resilience, security and continuity are the main stakes that refrain them from migrating to IP.
This is all the more true as the return On Investment is not straightforward (not to say negative when you read between the lines) .
Technologies are mature and New Services very numerous. However, businesses mention that pragmatism is the rule. In the Societe Generale example, ToIP is deployed and running in agencies because the ROI has been positive (due to centralization) but not in headquarters. Air Liquide highlights the fact that IP transformation is considered as a necessity more than a priority. New Usages are bound to be developed, but the economic level may remain the main factor : Issues like Virtualization and Cloud computing confirm this trend.
When IP transformation goes with Deregulation
Consequence or Result ? Whereas France Telecom Market share on the residential segment decreased down to 50%, it still reaches the 75% on the B2B segment. Not surprisingly, all alternative operators mention this paradox, as the market has been open for more than ten years. Operators that are interviewed ( BT, Completel, Verizon, SFR Neuf) push ARCEP to clarify the regulatory aspects and to re-organize the competitive game.
by Mac-Coy Pham
[polldaddy poll=1592581]
(8 votes)
Loading ...