Internet Telephony Takes the Spotlight

One technology promises to harness the power of the Internet for voice communications. Its competitor has been around for a century, and has an industry shorthand that needs two adjectives -- "plain old telephone service" -- to describe just how boring it is. The battle between the two is expected to heat up in 2005, as we move further into the much-hyped "Year of the Internet Phone." But even if the most optimistic predictions come to pass, industry analysts say, plain-old telephone lines will still have a tight grip on much of the market. The Internet-based business has a number of hurdles to clear before it becomes a mainstream technology.