This is actually quite an old argument that started as soon as people realized that they could put digitized voice across the Internet. Back in the mid-1990s, this same argument raged between the propeller heads at the telcos and the ISPs. Then it was about landlines. Today, its about mobile services.
The real issue then, and still is, who owns the connection to the customer? In land lines, that was who owned the last mile. In wireless today, its who is supplying signal. These are the guys who currently get to print the bills and act as a gateway for what the subscriber gets to see on their branded handset. These current guys want to make sure that nobody upsets that lucrative arrangement.
iPhone had the chance to disrupt this arrangement, but they are conveniently supported by ATT (Evil Empire). Google Voice is looking to jump the queue so to speak, and that is what has all of the other "real-telcos" nervous.
With regard to this 'rules of the road' discussion and why telcos are special, aren't you glad that we don't require email companies to deliver email across the net? Voice really is just one more data application upon the net, albeit one with more special needs and rules than most. Google is the first outsider with enough clout to make that argument believable.
Get ready for the revolution. It will be a bit bumpy, but you're gonna like it.
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Voice as Data
The real issue then, and still is, who owns the connection to the customer? In land lines, that was who owned the last mile. In wireless today, its who is supplying signal. These are the guys who currently get to print the bills and act as a gateway for what the subscriber gets to see on their branded handset. These current guys want to make sure that nobody upsets that lucrative arrangement.
iPhone had the chance to disrupt this arrangement, but they are conveniently supported by ATT (Evil Empire). Google Voice is looking to jump the queue so to speak, and that is what has all of the other "real-telcos" nervous.
With regard to this 'rules of the road' discussion and why telcos are special, aren't you glad that we don't require email companies to deliver email across the net? Voice really is just one more data application upon the net, albeit one with more special needs and rules than most. Google is the first outsider with enough clout to make that argument believable.
Get ready for the revolution. It will be a bit bumpy, but you're gonna like it.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Used To Know.
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