[asterisk-biz] Amp'd Going the Way of Sun Rocket

[Trixter aka Bret McDanel]

On 7/26/07, SIP <sip at arcdiv.com> wrote:
> Bah. VoIP is hardly dead unless you're stuck in the US.  There, it's
> been legislated out of existence by telecoms that could no longer
> compete. And where they've failed in legislation, they've succeeded in
> dubious lawsuits.
>
> But then... that's why VoIP adoption in the US is screamingly low
> compared to the rest of the world. France. Germany. The UK.  Even Latvia
> has higher VoIP adoption rates.
>
most of those companies also have higher costs to call from a
traditional phone, although that is starting to change.  VoIP in many
places is embraced because it offers cheaper calling, more unlimited
plans, etc - things that you get default with most US POTS calling
plans.

There is also a remarkably low outlay of broadband in the US, while
its getting better the US has fallen fairly low on the list, according
to *shudder* wikipedia the US is 12th.  (Wikipedia - where any
crackhead can make an offical looking entry and others will repeat it
as gospel - consider this a warning it may not be accurate - I dont
care to check the cites to see if they are even reputable).  The cited
source does list the US lower, with France and the UK being higher.
Germany is lower, but its 1/4 the US number which I believe gives it a
higher per capita rating.  Latvia isnt on that list.

Then there is the age issue, over 50% of the US is over 40, and those
people by in large are less likely to embrace newer technologies.
While that isnt true of everyone, there are a lot of people that want
to continue doing things the way that they always have.  Why do you
think that vonage spent so much money on some commercials showing
older people with their service and saying how easy it was to set up?

Legislation and lawsuits arent the only reason, it may influence it
some (I dont think it does that much personally but have nothing to
back that claim up).  There are many factors that come into play.  The
20% of americans that have broadband is probably the biggest factor,
unlimited long distance on mobile phones is another - something you
dont see often in europe (its starting, its just not as common yet).
VoIP adoption in america is still growing, a sign that lawsuits and
legislation havent scared everyone off from providing the service.

-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
Belfast +44 28 9099 6461        US +1 516 687 5200
http://www.trxtel.com the phone company that pays you!