As more voice minutes are switched to the Internet and traditional telecoms firms react, marketing and service costs are likely to rise, narrowing the price-gap over time.

ECONOMIST: Internet telephony

The company already has about 5, 000 business customers who buy everything from local phone service to high-speed Internet access, and it is spending heavily on marketing to recruit more.

FORBES: Fiber in the sagebrush

Stephanie Chandler is a professional speaker and author of Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business.

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