In other news...

VoIPPlanet.com is running this story: Global Crossing Expands VoIP Offering to Europe. I'm quoted here:

[Snip]

Carmi Levy Senior Research Analyst at Info-Tech Research Group characterized the new Global Crossing offerings as notable, but not in an earth-shattering manner. "It's a worthwhile offering that gives carrier customers another option as they seek scalable, cost-effective and easily-implemented VoIP solutions," Levy told EnterpriseVoIPplanet.com. "Competition is by definition beneficial to customers."

However, in Levy's opinion, Global Crossing's European announcements aren't differentially unique relative to other services that competitors in this space have announced in recent months. "Everyone is already touting various flavors of robust, secure, and cost-efficient VoIP solutions, and this announcement sounds very familiar as a result," Levy said.

In the U.S. market,where Global Crossing has already deployed some of its VoIP services, the company is overshadowed by the incumbent telecom companies, in Levy's opinion. The incumbents in the US have been aggressively pursuing development and deployment of VoIP products and services. Currently, 85 percent of all subscribers are served by the following four carriers: Sprint Nextel, Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone.

"Global Crossing has traditionally not enjoyed a major brand presence in this market, and the recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. doesn't leave it a whole lot of room for growth there," Levy said.

[Snip]