Talk is Cheap…And Getting Cheaper

...And the Industry Loses

In the end, VoIP and free communications endanger the cell phone companies’ survival, but the cell phone companies cannot stop the development or spread of technology, and so the cell phone oligopolists will die. Recently, after significant resistance, AT&T enabled VoIP technology on the iPhone over its 3G wireless network, as it had already allowed VoIP technology on its other wireless devices. Cleve Nettles, Apple, AT&T, the FCC, Google and Skype remark on AT&T opening VoIP over 3G, 9to5mac.com, Oct. 6, 2009, http://www.9to5mac.com/apple-skype-vonage. This move, which AT&T had to do to appease its customers, is a hopeful sign of the beginning of the end for the cell phone industry. With the technology in place, only time will tell how long it is until the regulatory and political framework changes so that a cell phone call is just another free commodity. No one can accurately predict the timetable, but I will not be surprised if free cell phone calls are the norm within the next decade.