VoIP Gets A Big Backer And Another Lawsuit

Ungrounded Lightning writes "Time Warner Cable has announced plans to roll out a VoIP telephone service. I see two implications. First: ISPs providing VoIP phone service have a competitive advantage over third-party VoIP/PSTN providers (such as Vonage), who must ride on top of a separate broadband subscription for the packet transport. This could lead to consolidation of this industry segment in the hands of ISPs. Second: Cable ISPs have an advantage over Telco DSL operations - where a VoIP offering would cannibalize their own POTS and short-range long-distance revenue. This implies rollout on cable providers first, followed by harder times for telcos, long-distance companies, and third parties." chipperdog writes "In this article it is mentioned that the small rural phone companies in North Dakota are filing a complaint against a local VoIP provider, CallSmart. Interesting to see how this one works out, given what happened in Minnesota a few months ago."

Comments

RIAA sound familiar?

[Quasar1999]

Is it just me, or is the American business model to stick with a rigid plan, and when that plan becomes obsolete, whine, bitch and complain until the politicians you bought last election will come up with laws that protect your horribly backwards business model and crush any and all innovation in the country.

Re:WRONG

[darxyde]

So you're going to wait until the bandwagon is already rolling then, rather than actually drive it?

Doesn't really make much business sense...