VoIP providers face price war

TalkBack 10 of 12:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

the discussion begins!

First of all, it's good to see someone interested in having an actual discussion. Very little of that on these boards these days.

Point 1: If you have PC you have all the equipment needed. How is needing a mic headset and speaker any differnt that the telephone hand set? In fact many people purchase mic headset speaker for thier telephones. This really is an issue anymore and is becoming less and less of one. The old POTS system is on it's way out as it should be.

If you're going to have a real phone connection through DSL or cable, you have to get a router and an ATA. That will let you make and receive calls without requiring the computer to be on. Keeping your computer on all the time is an inefficient way to keep your phone line up.

Point 2: You don't need to dial a person's phone. YOu connect to them via TCP over the internet and talk all you want. Right now that divides those with a PC from those with just POTS but the is way of every changing technology. In time POTS will disappear and comodity tech using embedded OSes will replace phones.

I know you can connect to anyone via TCP/IP. That's not much different from voice chat. Voice chat is extremely restrictive. If you had to fire up your computer every time you wanted to talk to someone and/or receive a call and the person you were trying to reach had to have their computer on ALSO...it'll be harder to reach them.

When exactly do you think you'll be able to call up your local grocery store or taxi service (or even township) through the internet for FREE?

You said something about embedded OS's and how these will replace phones but I really don't make the connection. A phone is a phone and it isn't going away...embedded OS or no embedded OS. You still need something to talk into and hear out of.

What I believe you're trying to say is that one day all phone traffic will run through the internet. That would mean one very large infrastructure (the phone lines and switches) to be literally thrown away just so the internet's infrastructure (which is already stressed) can have that much more heaped on top of it. Think about it.

You're under the illusion that some day there will be free phone service for everyone. That's what this conversation is all about. Even if all phone calls were routed through the internet, someone still has to pay for the bandwidth in order to keep the model sustainable.

Who do you think paid for those big pipes? Who bought the computers to switch your data in and out? Who maintains the computers? Who's going to buy the bigger pipes? Pipes aren't much different from telephone lines when you think about it. Switches aren't that different from routers and computers. I suppose telephone poles leave little to be desired, but they're THERE today so why root it all up just so we can crush the internet with our FREE calls?

The internet is NOT free and clear.

Enjoy your free voice chat today, but one way or the other you or someone else will wind up paying for it. If not now, then in the future.

Point3: Phone companies can choose not to budge on this. The result is they will die. If you take notice now you will see the Telcos are already internet providers and are branching into other services. My Telco is offerning Cable TV channels, wireless service, and cell phone service. They see that POTS is a dying business model.

First, don't forget that DSL runs through the phone lines. Secondly, DSL is less hackable than cable because of that. Third, phone companies are in the business of communications. It makes sense for them to offer other forms of it. It makes them more diverse and opens up new revenue streams. Some people like cable, some like satellite...some people like standard phone lines and others prefer cell phones. It's all about what people want, what works for them. There is nothing inferior about POTS. If anything, it's much more stable, secure and ubiquitous than the internet.

Plain and simple if you want a business to rely on POTS for revenue in the future someone will come and eat your lunch by using the internet.

Relying on one single thing for revenue is probably a bad idea. On that much I think we agree.

Posted by: blahblahblah   Posted on: 11/05/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Iinfrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now
• The Impact of Virtualization Software on Operating Environments VMware Today's use of virtualization technology allows IT professionals to ... Download Now
• Reducing Server Total Cost of Ownership with VMware Virtualization Software VMware VMware virtualization enables customers to reduce their server TCO and ... Download Now