[Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents

[C F]

Reading the patents and the comments written here, I couldn't resist
and had to make this comment (ouch it's Sunday again):
We should patent dugy style, and when Sprint screws Verizon from the
back, sue them both for patent infringement.



On 10/7/05, Rich Adamson <radamson at routers.com> wrote:
>
> > I wouldn't think anyone would consider Sprint a dying company. They just
> > acquired Nextel so they've got money to spend.
> >
> > Maybe as an ILEC (which they are here in Ohio) they are viewing Vonage
> > and Voiceglo as a force that needs to be stopped to prevent further
> > eroding of their POTS network. I know that I cost SBC money when I
> > dropped them for Vonage. They aren't getting the $$ for that line
> > installed to my home anymore. (Which makes me downright giddy when I
> > think about it.) Imagine if my whole neighborhood switched after SBC had
> > built-out facilities... that would cost SBC a lot of money. They put
> > those POTS lines in counting on them being active and producing income
> > for a long time. Even if service is provided by a CLEC, the line makes
> > money for the ILEC. But if the line is switched off before the payoff
> > horizon, they lose money.
>
> Having been in the telephony business for a long time (and know a number
> of Sprint Corp employees), all telco's in the US are loosing lines (and
> associated revenue) primarily to Cellular, and a small amount to the
> Vonage-type services including those in the local cable business.
>
> Sprint's documents prior to the vote to merge with Nextel indicated
> their intent was to spin off the local telco's, with the longer range
> intent of selling them or trading for other non-telco properties.
> Two large US communications companies reportedly are interested in
> discussing such deals with Sprint/Nextel.
>
> The merger with Nextel is suppose to be creating a very competitive
> cellular business, with lots of economies to be gained from consolidating
> tower space/rental (duplicate facilities on the same tower in many
> locations) and from duplicate staffs.
>
> Sprint's long distance sub was basically converted to voip a long time
> ago, but that LD network was managed as a closed/internal network that
> most customers had no direct access to. That network still exists, but
> its primarily carrying internal traffic including PCS cellular traffic.
> You can guess what it will be used for with the merged PCS and Nextel
> facilities.
>
> Their stated intent includes the delivery of other digital services
> to customers, but they've not tipped their hat (publicly) as to what
> those services might consist of just yet. Obviously, their customer
> base will look completely different then what it is today, and will
> likely be focused on a much larger population after the local telco
> spin off.
>
> As a consulting group, our company has been working with several smaller
> telcos. Some already have the fiber facilities in place (even in their
> largely rural serving areas) to provide digital tv signals to every
> single customer. The majority are also deploying voip to any of their
> customers that want it. And, a few are waiting for the WiMax stuff
> to settle down before they deploy that as well. (The smaller telcos
> are far more nibble then the big 10.)
>
> Rich
>
>
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