VoIP And Cell Phones Eroding Traditional Telecoms

Lullabye_Muse writes "Yahoo! reports that telecoms in Europe and U.S. are losing in response to people switching their home phones for cellphones and dial up to cable modems. More info on specific VoIP discussed in latter part of article. The trend seems to becoming widespread, I guess 10 years and all the old wires are gonna start to be taken down."

Comments

Never

[gotpaint32]

Never will copper be phased out by wireless, the old telcos may lose dominance, but until the reliability is there (powerouts, national emergencies, etc), most simply won't switch over to a fully landline free solution.

Re:Never

[LostCluster]

I don't think wireless can successfully replace copper, but coax and fiber most certainly can. I don't think the landline will go away completely, but there's not much reason to use unshielded twisted pairs that have been installed outdoors decades ago when we now have better technologies available.

Re:A land-line...?

[AlphaWolf_HK]

I still keep my land-line operational, though... I'm beginning to wonder why. Well, it's not really a bad idea considering that your landline is the most reliable. It'll work during bad weather, and it'll work during a power outage, or when your ISP is being neglegent and your connection is down.

Surprise surprise.

[cbiffle]

Because, if there's any industry that's bent over backwards to inspire customer loyalty, it's the telecoms. ...

Yet another example of innovation sweeping the market out from under an industry that's too busy screwing its consumers to notice.

Monopolies are not all bad

[EmbeddedJanitor]

... so long as they are benevolent. For widespread rollout of utilities, a monopoly works very well if they are not so profit oriented. It takes a lot of money and long-term thinking to roll out copper, especially to out-lying areas etc. A hard-assed quarter-by-quarter driven company would continue to look for the best profit which does not necessarily mean taking the technology to the people.

Of course there comes a time when the monopoly no longer makes and it will fade out. Most customers will benefit but soome (eg. less profitable customers in outlying areas) will lose out.

Re:Monopolies are not all bad

[MBCook]

I remember reading something about the head of Standard Oil (IIRC). One of his business advisors asked why they didn't raise the price of oil in the winter when demand spiked to make more money and he replied that he had to keep it affordable otherwise people would freeze to death.

Monopolies aren't always bad, as you said. The problem with the way we see monopolies is that most of them take advantage of it to shaft the customer (on price, service, or anything else). It's when you mix monopolies with proffit motivations above all else that you get in real trouble. A benevolent monopoly can be good, as you said. Unfortunatly, I doubt we'll ever see benevolent monopolies (or even corporations) ever again. They just seem to get greedier and greedier.

Of course, in most situations, a nice open market if best.

What about DSL?

[chiph]

The trend seems to becoming widespread, I guess 10 years and all the old wires are gonna start to be taken down

What about DSL?
Not everyone will have FITL (fiber-to-the-curb), so the existing copper lines will still have a use.

Chip H.

Two disagreements

[Octagon Most]

First, the U.S. telecoms are not "losing." I work for one and it is making more money than ever. Sure land line usage has decreased for the first time ever, but revenue is up as more homes embrace broadband. And don't forget who owns the wireless companies.

Second, the "old wires" are not "gonna start to be taken down." There is a billion dollar infrastructure buried under the U.S. that's going nowhere. And a century of tweaking has made it rock solid. A new generation growing up on wireless phones won't appreciate the five nines of reliability that the PSTN provides, but most of the population is nowhere near ready to give up the phone line that stays up during power failures.

That said, the future is certainly IP based. The phone company knows that and will be well positioned to be the dominant provider. The RBOCs and the cable companies are the only players likely to survive in the broadband and IP-based future.

Re:I miss ma bell

[IANAAC]

but I remember being able to understand clear phones bills and passable customer service.

Do you remember having to pay $0.40 a minute for a long distance call? I do.

The main advantage you now see from the breakup is competition, however feeble, and lower pricing.

Oh, and customer service has always sucked. It's not a new phenomenon.

Spot on.

[hot_Karls_bad_cavern]

"Unfortunatly, I doubt we'll ever see benevolent monopolies (or even corporations) ever again."

If i had the points i had last night, i'd mod you through the roof. This is the most insightful and true statement i've seen today.

i hate to be a defeatist, but fucking christ, who isn't trying to fuck you these days? It's not enough to have a chalet on some remote lake anymore is it? It's not enough to have 7+ figures in the bank is it?

i just grow more and more disheartened that there are no truly benevolent companies in monopolistic positions these days. i won't glorify the "good ol' days" and sure as hell, there were sharks in those days, but i can't help but feel that i'm getting fucked, about to get fucked, or have the research to realize that, yeah, i am getting fucked by some company.

Shit, maybe i'm just out of touch, but i'd hoped that by the age of 26 i'd not be so goddamn cynical and have to watch my back at every fucking turn....like maybe, just maybe, some corps just might give a fuck that i live to next year and buy the next edition. Know what i mean?

Fuck, i already sound like my grandfather and at least he got be 50 before he was an ass about everything.