Phone Calls Via Internet Not Unusual; VoIP Goes Mainstream.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE

Entrepreneur Jeffrey Pulver is finally seeing the Internet phone market blossom.

It's been a long time coming.

Pulver began dabbling in the field nearly a decade ago. Early on, he developed software that let personal computer users make free phone calls over the Internet. Later, he started a trade show devoted to the technology -- called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. He then formed a group to lobby federal regulators on Internet issues.

In 2002, he launched a VoIP service called Free World Dialup.

And at the Pulver.com Web site, Pulver sells VoIP gadgets and posts reports and a daily blog.

VoIP has been cited as a "technology to watch" in the media for several years. But it's struggled to go mainstream. In 2004, VoIP arrived at last, Pulver says. Customers -- and competition -- streamed into the market.