“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”..Mark Twain

Ahh, the telecommunications voice marketplace. Particularly, the interconnect voice segment has long been rumored to be, in a word…dead. But it’s not true. To borrow a term, it’s “fake news”.

Yes, voice is boring. Yes, it doesn’t occupy a carrier's future investment or growth strategy, but it most certainly, most positively, 100% NOT DEAD.

Interconnect voice, in particular, is thriving. There has been a spate of consolidation. There’s been new regulatory incursions in Europe and elsewhere. There’s still a TON of money to be made in interconnect voice. Why? Because people keep talking, and they want to talk on the old tried and true communication technology…aka the telephone.   

We have engaged with many large carriers over the past 12-18 months, and all but one has indicated that they see growth opportunities in the marketplace for voice, and interconnect voice in particular. You’ve got your giant market players: Vodafone, DT, TATA, BT, Telefonica, etc, all with massive revenues tied into voice (and interconnect voice in particular).  So, next time you hear someone say “voice is dead”, or “voice is on the way out”, or “ voice is no longer profitable”, stop them in their tracks and tell them, “No, voice is not dead”.  You can even reference the Mark Twain quote above and impress them with your literary awareness.

What do you think?  Why is voice always discussed in posthumous terms?