[asterisk-biz] Experimental/new VoIP rate search engine.

[Kristian Kielhofner]

On 1/4/09, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com> wrote:
> Kristian Kielhofner wrote:
>
>  > On 1/4/09, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com> wrote:
>  >> I think if this gets traction you will see a lot of providers doing
>  >>  ultra-low bait-and-switch rates. Most cannot afford to be in a price
>  >>  race to the bottom.
>  >>
>  >
>  >   Agreed.
>  >
>  >   This current race to the bottom, while somewhat inevitable, is not
>  > necessarily a good thing for customers.
>
>
> There are presently very substantial differences between wholesale
>  trunking providers based on who they buy from, what type of Internet
>  connectivity they have / how they are peered relative to Tier 1 Internet
>  backbones, what equipment they use, and the jurisdiction in which they
>  operate and associated regulations.

  Interestingly enough, perhaps not interesting at all, many of the
Tier 1 Internet backbone providers are also in the wholesale VoIP
space:

- Global Crossing
- Level(3)
- AT&T
- Qwest
- MCI/Verizon Business

  These are the usual Tier 1 players and if you have VoIP origination
that claims wide US coverage it's probably ultimately coming from one
of these characters.

  I know you (Alex) are a proponent of direct media handoff (as am I).
 If properly architected this can work out quite well for the end user
simply because most of these Tier 1 backbone providers/VoIP providers
are so well peered with last mile providers, especially if the last
mile provider is one of their offshoots (AT&T/SBC, MCI/Verizon Core,
etc).

  Proxy the media once in some shady colo on some shady network and... :(

  Financially, however, most of these guys don't look very good
either...  Level(3), for example, has all but defaulted on their
current debt and barely has enough cash to make it through this year.

-- 
Kristian Kielhofner
http://blog.krisk.org
http://www.submityoursip.com
http://www.astlinux.org
http://www.star2star.com