While other cable operators still have IP telephony on the drawing board, Charter Communications Inc. is putting it to the field test with two upcoming trials. Wis. The tests will involve 250 to 500 friendly customers, who will not be charged for the service. The tests should run until August or September, followed by an evaluation. Motorola Inc. Many other cablers that have started up commercial telephony deployments have opted for the older, traditional circuit-switched schemes out of concern the IP technology is not ready for public consumption. Because it is only a limited trial, Charter is comfortable going with the IP system, according to John Pietri, senior vice president of engineering for Charter.
Timing also comes into play.
The delay may prove an advantage, because only now are reliable IP telephony systems coming into the market, Pietri says. Pietri also expects the cable industry's PacketCable IP data transmission standards will have been completed. Meanwhile, while technicians still are installing the equipment for the upcoming trial, initial diagnostics have been positive. I expect by the time we get to some of the interconnections with the publicly switched telephone network and do a little more with the off-network, we'll run into things we didn't anticipate. But that's several months off.