[asterisk-biz] calling card business

[David Knell]

It's not dead; it's merely changed.  

Last time I bought a TDM switch, I paid about US$150,000 for 64E1s - so
it'd switch about 1000 calls.  Several years later, we run that traffic
volume and more through two commodity Dell servers which, with
bandwidth, cost us about $250/month.  And it takes a few hours to hook
up to a new carrier, rather than weeks or months in the TDM world.  So
it's no wonder that there's a lot of TDM equipment coming onto the
market; IP is too compelling.

There is also a lot of activity around cellphones - for example, a
couple of the UK calling card companies have launched MVNOs with an
emphasis on cheap international calling (such as Lycatel with
Lycamobile), selling SIMs through their existing distribution, and
existing carriers are starting to offer cheap international calling
packages, both to postpaid and prepaid customers.

Question back at you - what do you say when someone asks if you can sell
their TDM switch?

--Dave

> is it dead? i have many people e-mailing me asking if I can sell their
> switches (NACT, DTI, Excel) I also know from last year the intelecard
> show was a bust...so what do you guys think? are we all just heading
> to mobile phones and unified communications? what about the people
> that have credit issues? prepaid cell phones? 
> 
> -- 
> Thank you,
> 
> -Wes-
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-- 
David Knell, Director, 3C Limited
T: +44 20 3298 2000
E: dave at 3c.co.uk
W: http://www.3c.co.uk