The Zero Billion dollars business

I probably should say the Zero Billion Euros business, but since the amount is Zero, I do not think it makes that big difference.
I am talking about VoIP of course.
Why such a promising business doesn't make money, or makes much less than preview?
The only ones who make a little are the "Terminators".
But not even them anymore, since the fight has come to a point in which for every available customer you have at least two companies offering the "best rates".

What are the reasons?
1) First, let's have a look around to see who could be the possible customer.
Do not mix up telephony with VoIP.
Both deal with communication, but they are fundamentally different.
Telephony is a well established, mostly Monopoly's owned and state (politically) controlled business.
The infrastructure were already paid long ago by the customers, but still in the hands of the Monopoly, which plays at its own pleasure with them.

They can upgrade or lower the rates to what they find convenient and easily fight against the competition.
Is VoIP a threat to them?
I do not think so. The moment it will really be, then they will begin to be worried about.

I looked around me and asked myself: Who among my friends and relatives and acquaintances could be a possible customer of VoIP?
It was easy to count them, because they were so few.
In principle the normal people are not interested in long distance calls. No matter what number they report of Skype customers.
It is more like a fashion or a status symbol.
Very few young people do a lot of international calls and the national calls are much cheaper and better quality with a normal phone.
Why should they bother to use VoIP?

2) There are companies, and may be a lot of them, who could be relevant customers of VoIP, but they are still sleeping and many already tried the "best rates" and decided that it is undoubtedly great to speak for so cheap rates, but understanding each other, especially when you come to business, is more important.

To that you should also add the laziness and lack of interest or ignorance of most of the business (especially European) men and you have the complete scenario.

This is why till now VoIP is the Zero billion Euros business.


Patrizia from a World on IP