The Defense Ministry will soon put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a huge tender for a new telephone infrastructure and about 100,000 new phones - all based on VoIP technology.

Voice over Internet Protocol is used for telephony services over the Internet.

The tender is estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, and companies including Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, Broadsoft, Avaya, Nokia-Siemens and Sonus are expected to compete.

The IDF has its own internal internet communications network, with its own internal e-mail system.

The IDF has started connecting outlying bases to VoIP telephony using the internet infrastructure project. Now the IDF plans to replace its entire telephone system with VoIP phones. The army will replace its telephone sets and telephone exchanges, and will set up a new central switch, known as a softswitch, which is a telephone exchange based on software and not hardware.

"The IDF is building a little Bezeq," said one senior communications industry executive. Bezeq's revenues are likely to drop as a result, as the IDF is a big customer, though in any case the move to VoIP will be gradual.

VoIP telephony has a number of advantages over traditional systems: It is cheaper to maintain than regular exchanges, and can be controlled by computer. It is more flexible, and easier to add and remove extensions and equipment. It also is easier to connect distant bases without Bezeq infrastructure.

The IDF said: "It is true we are examining a VoIP telephony system of tens of thousands of subscribers. At this stage, the significance is being analyzed. When the examination is finished, a decision will be made on continuing the process and the method of implementation. The RFP stage has yet to start, and therefore we have no comment on the list of companies."

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