AT&T Plans VoIP Service

AT&T is set to announce a new service that will allow customers to make phone calls over the Internet, a company representative confirmed.

Although the representative declined to give details of the service ahead of its official announcement, due to be made by company executives on the U.S East Coast Thursday, a report in The Wall Street Journal said that the service would be rolled out in over 100 markets.

The voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service will initially launch in three East Coast markets, with plans to target more than a million consumers over the next two years, according to the report, published Thursday in the Journal's online edition.

Plenty of Competition

Time Warner Cable, a division of Time Warner, announced earlier this month that it was partnering with MCI and Sprint to further roll out its VoIP service in the U.S.

The moves to VoIP come as traditional telephone and cable companies face threats from new rivals who have started offering Net-based phone services without having to roll out costly networks.

The offerings are targeted at customers with broadband services.

The AT&T representative could not comment on whether the VoIP service would be made available outside the U.S.