VoIP revolution leaves US behind | The Register FYI.
VoIP over Wi-Fi looks set to create waves everywhere … except the USA.
That’s one, unexpected conclusion you can draw from the Symbian Smartphone show this year, which drew 4,000 attendees to London’s Docklands, and finished today…In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, mobile VoIP is finally here, and although it’s still in its infancy – it’s very definitely real. Nokia’s decision to include a SIP stack in its E-series Symbian phones has created a small explosion of start-up service providers. Kinks abound – and the number of devices available on the market is still limited – but the benefits are tangible. As I noted yesterday, since trialling VoIP on Symbian a month ago I haven’t used any cellular minutes at home – except by accident.
So why are US consumers and businesses failing to reap the benefits so far? Two reasons stand out. Intransigent network operators are determined to cripple SIP-capable devices they sell in the USA – and they’re getting away with it,
The market for CRTs is getting eaten away at both ends, leaving only the middle.
Everything below 20″ is now seems to be only available in LCD, and above 30″ it seems to be all LCD or Plasma, leaving only the sizes in between.
mmmm capitalism…
Everything below 20″ is now seems to be only available in LCD, and above 30″ it seems to be all LCD or Plasma, leaving only the sizes in between.
I had a 30″ phone once, back in The Day.
It even had little wheels so you could tow it around behind you.
I think it had an LCD screen.
At home, and my company, no more Ma Bell.
Cable company Internet + phone service, and a true stand-alone VOIP for my main business line.
I bring the special router and a cordless phone with me everywhere I travel. Last March on the beach in Puerto Rico, talking with a client, voip’ing!
Now the clincher….for the last two years!
At least once a year someone from Bell tries to win me back. I now take great pleasure in being extreeeeemeely polite. They never hang up on you! Well, last one did after keeping him on the line for nearly twenty minutes.
I was doing the dishes (manually), taking my sweet time talking with the cordless 900Mhz. The Eternal Question :: What Does It Take To Have You Back As A Customer?
Ma Bell is getting real desparate in Canada, eh?
🙂
Why? Becasue its not in those companies intrests to update their network infrastructure in order to allow voip via wifi… remember folks, its all about the bottom line.
Just keep making those buggy whips Ma Bell. The government will protect you.
5,
Its not the bottom line, its the TOP pay.
Those on top Dont want to re-invest their money to make something better.
They want US, the consumer to pay for it. Every single penny PLUS their wages, for something that hasnt really been improved in 40-60 years.
My fugging cable company offers VoIP for a whopping $42 a month. Get real! Skype is free and Vonage can be had for $15 ($24 for unlimited). It’s the telcos protecting their turf and the cablecos mugging their subscribers. What’s new?
Common sense…
thats whats NOT new, they aint got any.
Im sorry, to say,
But, I told you so. Iv been saying it for years now.
To be a proper consumer,
WAIT. Watch, shop around, and find the best deal.
But corps are TRYING to force internet business to Cow-Tow, to the Non-internet. It wasnt 5 years ago, that GREAt prices could be had on the NET…Look closely…they are going up.
Until cable and Cellphones get THERE OWN backbone to internet there own systems, they are dependant on the Telco’s. PERIOD..
VoIP revolution Leaves USA behind
Ok, the headline caught my attention, and the first thought that crossed my ming was FFFFFFFSSSSTTT.
Why do you guys want to kill off all those jobs for phone company technicians to save a little money?
I just got out of my vonage contract, and hacked my utstarcom phone. I will never pay for a phone call again!!! Too bad I signed up with vonage for a year right before I figured out there there are bunches of open sip servers just a nmap away(and entirely free POTS terminiation services for collect calls). That should last me until the end of the telco services.
Also, its not about a few bucks. Its about value for your dollar. do you want to pay 60 bucks a month for a 56k connection? Or do you want to pay 60 bucks for a 8mb cable connection?
Sounds like you guys are ready to help with an interm version of TWIT.
Sorry about #1, obviously it was cross-posted.
I have no problem with VOIP, or any other way of making calls. But it is patently unfair to require a telco or cable company to heed universal access, where they have to string the wire to every household in whatever area.
If SKYPE or whomever want’s to “take advantage” of broadband created by others, fine, but you can’t expect the telco’s to go running to fix a line to single house or community downed by a felled tree just so they can make phone calls benefiting (monetarily) someone else.
Public utilities (telcos, cable, electric companies) are strange entities and pure capitalism does not apply. Universal service is not a market concept, but a social concept, and if we require companies to provide it, we have to give then incentive to do it, and to guarentee them a reasonable rate of return, or minimally to get back what they truly invested. It’s just the right thing to do.
15 …but you can’t expect the telco’s to go running to fix a line to single house or community downed by a felled tree just so they can make phone calls benefiting (monetarily) someone else.
What?
Is that single house paying a monthly fee for a broadband connection, or not?
Are households in that communitiy paying monthly fees for broadband connectivity, or not?
How do they get away with it? Oh yeah, they buy out the people we vote for. Maybe we ought to stop voting for people based on money and charisma?
Why would you want a WIFI Sip phone, you can’t use it in the car and in most buildings wifi coverage is very spotty.
Now a Wimax Sip phone that sounds appealing.
How about an EV-DO Skype powered video conferencing phone.
I have an EV-DO card for my notebook. Whenever I don’t want to use my cell minutes I use my notebook with Skype or Vonage softphone. I get tons of strange looks sitting at a park bench talking to my computer while videoconferencing.
Wifi+Sip just sounds stupid.
I’ve wondered the same thing, about the speed at which America embraces technology, too. FCC limitations and special interests with kickbacks to the right people in key places also hinder American advancement with things, like Wifi VoIP. I understand the telco point of view in which their infrastructures are being used, but there’s no reason they can’t embrace the technology themselves and flex their corporate muscles (and money) to provide VoIP as part of their services.
http://highspeed-internet-provider.com
I think VOIP has done well in the U.S. I think it will actually get more popular soon enough when more high speed internet providers offer the service. http://ispsurvey.com