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Do-It-Yourself VOIP Telco

Posted by michael on from the some-hacking-required dept.

DamnYankee writes "Robert X. Cringley predicts the coming demise of the landline telco monopolies from the grassroots encroachment of VoIP and Linux on the latest generation of Wifi routers. According to Bob, 'The result is a system with economics with which a traditional local phone company simply can't compete'. With Linux capabilities and builtin VoIP any Mom and Pop can become the local equivalent of a cellular phone company for the price of $79 Wifi router. Now how is Verizon going to compete with that? Get the full scoop from the man himself."

8 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. I tried this as a child by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    A carton full of dixie cups and a spool of thread. No one wanted to pay my rates sadly enuff :(

    1. Re:I tried this as a child by superid · · Score: 5, Funny

      Your roaming policy was just too restrictive.

  2. Those poor Telco's by MrRTFM · · Score: 1, Funny

    Damnit, the government should stop this sort of thing - it could reduce the Telco's profits.

    I say we, as a group, should not support this in any way, shape or form.

    --
    You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
  3. Patented? by Frit+Mock · · Score: 2, Funny


    Wasn't there some patent, protecting the process to press some buttons on a device without wires and beeing comunicativly connected to some other persons device without wires, enabling both parties to talk with each other?

  4. Re:not gonna happen, the lobbies are too powerful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So you're basically saying that VoIP makes your phone calls as controllable as your spam email?

    FanTAStic!

  5. Can you hear me now? by Ant2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hello? I said, can you hear me now? Hello? Damn...

  6. Sounds good, but... by dayhox · · Score: 2, Funny

    Doesn't SCO own VOIP?

  7. Re:Correct me if I am wrong ... by aCC · · Score: 2, Funny

    But surely one of the major fuctions of a phone is that people can wring you.

    Wow, I'm glad my phone doesn't do that to me. ;-)