Oki Electric Industry Co of Japan is teaming up with Intel Corp to design a device that can provide high-quality voice communication via the internet. An Oki spokesman said that combining Intel’s microprocessor technology with Oki’s telecommunications know-how will enable the two to tap an internet telephony market expected to be worth 500bn yen ($4.3bn) worldwide by 2003.
The voice over IP device will enable internet users to place long-distance and international calls at less than half the cost of conventional phone services. Intel and Oki also plan to develop a combination fax machine/email terminal by adding additional processing power to the device. The hardware will be marketed to new common carriers as well as to corporations with substantial domestic and overseas office networks.
