You may have noticed that I like VoIP. Probably because I like the idea of paying nothing to call around the world more than I like paying 30 cents or more per minute. In fact, I think I'll be carrying a wifi VoIP handset soon, and you may see me driving around the neighborhood looking for a hotspot during a Qwest DSL outage (and judging from the last month, that'll probably be tonight).
But the minute you introduce the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network largely via old copper), you start paying real cash, especially if you're in business. Telecom costs add up fast.
No loyalty for ma bell
If small businesses understand the importance of having broadband and have the willingness to use programs like Skype -- and trust me, they do -- then the telecom trend will move that way even for larger organizations and individuals alike. The phone was a novelty in 1920, as was the fax machine in 1980, and they're both essential to business today. VoIP will be too, but the learning curve is getting a lot sharper.
By the way, I won't be a bit surprised if I'm getting WLAN from Google in the next five years, to enable my VoIP addiction. Perhaps I'll have a Gphone account then too!
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