San Antonio gets U-verse Voice

AT&T has made available its AT&T U-verse Voice in parts of San Antonio, Texas, bringing consumers a next-generation digital voice service delivered over the AT&T U-verse IP network, reports Market Watch.

U-verse Voice brings together AT&T home phone, wireless, broadband and TV services, all on one bill, with unique features that provide a new level of integration, convenience and control.

AT&T U-verse Voice completes the company's IP triple play and is available to all new and existing U-verse TV customers in the San Antonio area.

Research and Markets has added the "China Sourcing Report: VOIP Phones" report to its offering, states Market Watch.

Based on in-factory tours, China's VOIP phone makers are looking to corner their share of the US$20 billion global VOIP hardware market.

But the industry is facing tough challenges. Fierce competition, higher production cost, and domestic market slowdown have led to the supplier base dwindling by half.

SMEs are looking for a cheaper and easier way to deploy VOIP and, in more and more cases, are turning to solution providers for options, says CRN.

This week, managed VOIP service provider Whaleback Systems revamped its channel programme to help VARs target their SME customers and ease them into the world of IP telephony with its CrystalBlue Voice Service.

"There's a war between hosted VOIP versus boxes and systems, and a managed service is the best of both," said Dave Zwicker, Whaleback's marketing vice-president.