When Ajaz Ahmed, a manager for PC World in Leeds, finally got in front of Dixons CEO with his idea for what later became the companys hugely successful Freeserve business, he was told he could give the idea a go, but not to spend much money. Dixons eventually invested 240,000. When the company, launched in September 1998, was sold to Wanadoo less than three years later, the business was valued at 1.6 billion.

Ahmed revolutionised Internet usage in Europe through his idea of Freeserve as a free Internet service provider (ISP), and attracted over 200,000 subscribers in the first month alone. Within three months, despite having just five staff, the business has grown to become the largest ISP in the UK. A few months later, bankers were urging Ahmed to float the company, which he did on both the London and New York Stock Exchanges. When, at its peak, the stock market valued the company at 9 billion, Freeserve was technically bigger than its parent company, making it into the FTSE 100.

Following the companys sale, Ahmed has been taking time out to enjoy his success. He decided not to transfer to Wanadoo, and has spent the last three years sitting on a number of company boards, acting as a mentor to small businesses, and taking it easy. More recently, however, he has accepted an appointment as CEO of CallServe, a voice-over-IP (VoIP) company specialising in the technology that enables normal phone calls to be made over the Internet, for free or rock-bottom tariffs.

If the success of Freeserve is anything to go by, could this be the start of another radical new chapter in UK communications history?

Ahmed hopes so: I see VoIP as the next big technology. The majority of phone calls will be made over the Internet in the future. (In fact, he points out that this interview is being conducted over VoIP, rather than a normal phone line, using his home-based broadband connection and an analogue phone adaptor.)

The phone call bypasses the phone company, and is routed via the Internet until it gets to the receivers end, he explains. This means that, at the very most, the most anyone will ever have to pay for a call in future, whether national or international, is the price of a local phone call - just as they do now when they connect to their ISP to access the Internet.

Despite years of sceptical press coverage, Ahmed is confident that the technology is now on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. There was a lot of hype to begin with but the early technology was like CB radio, with pauses on the line. Now quality has caught up with traditional phone services, and broadband lets you take full advantage. 2005 will be the first year of mass take-up.

Companies are already using the technology because of the lower system management costs and the possibility of free calls between all a companys locations, but consumers and small businesses will start to adopt the services too next year when compelling offers become available. When youre talking a penny a minute to call Europe, thats compelling.

After all, it was by making a similar offer that Freeserve took off so quickly. Ahmeds initial idea was to offer simple Internet connectivity services to consumers for a flat monthly subscription fee of 9.99, but when BT launched BT Click, this stole his thunder. Ahmed came back with the idea for a free service, on the basis that the real money would be made from the local calls consumers would make each time they connected to the ISP. The rest is history.

The overall idea, for turning Internet connectivity for consumers into a new business venture for Dixons, came when Ahmed bought a PC, took it home, and realised he didnt know how to connect to the Internet. He asked around at work, but no-one at PC World or Dixons could help. He was aghast, wondering who could help consumers if PC World couldnt.

Like many innovators and inventers, Ahmeds business ventures originate from his own experiences, which is why his belief in the potential VoIP stands a good chance of paying off.

So what other technologies does he believe are critical to busy executives today?

I rely on two things, Ahmed says. At the heart of everything I do is Microsoft Outlook 2003, which I use to maintain my diary and contacts on my laptop, so I can take these anywhere. My laptop has wireless Internet and wireless networking capabilities, too, which means I can be at my maximum productivity potential wherever I am even the train down to London from Leeds now has wireless connectivity.

My other indispensable tool is a Sony Ericsson 910 mobile phone, which synchronises with Outlook so that I can carry my diary and all of my 500+ contacts with me (including email addresses), and access my email, without having to carry my laptop around. This also means that I can check my availability for future meetings while I am with a colleague or client, without having to get out my computer. And, with all my contacts automatically synchronised onto my phone, I can see at a glance whos calling me, because of Caller ID.

If there is one technology other than VoIP that gets me excited about the future, its WiMax. This will give mobile users high-speed wireless Internet and email access anywhere within a 20-30Km radius of a base station, instead of within the 100 metres of a WiFi hotspot, which is the limitation currently. In 2005 well start to get WiMax in the bigger cities Intel is spending vast amounts on it, and the phone companies are busy installing wireless networks too. As well as being able to get fast Internet connections everywhere, this means consumers will be able to take advantage of VoIP wherever they are too.