[Note: There are a few links to other articles and web sites embedded
in this article; therefore you may just want to go read it at the web
site.]
http://www.advancedippipeline.com/voip/53701340
By Paul Kapustka Advanced IP Pipeline
As we predicted earlier this month, a Bush victory in the election
would favor the incumbents in the telecom market. And without much
delay, the RBOCs are already pressing their advantages with the hope
of winning the Voice over IP battle before it even gets started. Last
week, the spotlight belonged to SBC, with announcements all over the
VoIP map. While SBC's entrance into the consumer-VoIP market is a
positive addition to the competitive landscape, its clumsy attempt to
paint its you-can't-run-your-VoIP-over-our-lines legal manuever as
another positive fell flat on its face.
Backpedaling furiously after a Wall Street Journal article pegged the
"TipTop" service for what it truly is -- an attempt to legally force
competitors to pay the highest current interconnection rates -- SBC
issued one of the most-hilarious officialese statements of recent
memory, saying that "some VoIP providers may find it more economical
than what they are purchasing now."
Sure, just in the same way that consumers may find it "more
economical" to pay all their communications bills to one provider,
even if the total is more expensive. That's the kind of doublespeak
you can get used to as the RBOCs use their marketing and legal might
to stomp all over the VoIP startups for as long as they can.
The SBC announcements generated a lot of heat in the VoIP blogging
world last week, with an insightful analysis from our friend Jeff
Pulver among the better takes (make sure you scroll down for the
'reply' from what appears to be an SBC employee in the comments).
Full story at:
http://www.advancedippipeline.com/voip/53701340
Lisa Minter (lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com)