Another view on telco vs. pure-play VoIP

Tom's Hardware Guide is as authoritative a technocentric chronicler of telecommunications and computing devices I have seen in quite awhile.

Today, they take a studied look at how the telco incumbents vs. pure-play VoIP phone company struggle will play out.

They quote IDC analyst William Stofega saying in effect that although companies such as Vonage have a lower VoIP subscription price point than incumbent phone companies, those "incumbents will be able to offer higher quality VoIP calls by controlling the infrastructure data packets (that) are routed."

Stofega believesthe incumbents will leverage their existing customer base to gain VoIP market share.

Tom's Hardware Guide senior editor Wolfgang Gruener adds a cautionary note, though. He implies that the incumbents need to find an attractive price point that does not jeopardize revenue streams.