[Hidden-tech] best phone service?

[Jan Werner]

The Economist magazine ran a lead article in their September 15, 2005 
issue titled "How the Internet killed the phone business."  The article 
concluded:

    It is now no longer a question of whether VOIP will wipe out
    traditional telephony, but a question of how quickly it will do
    so.  People in the industry are already talking about the day,
    perhaps only five years away, when telephony will be a free
    service offered as part of a bundle of services as an incentive to
    buy other things such as broadband access or pay-TV services.
    VOIP, in short, is completely reshaping the telecoms landscape.
    And that is why so many people have been making such a fuss over
    Skype—a small company, yes, but one that symbolises a massive
    shift for a trillion-dollar industry.

Verizon is certainly aware of this. They have radically improved their 
customer service in the last six months and have been dropping rates for 
some packages (although they haven't been publicizing this fact). For 
example, I recently changed my "Freedom" package to something called 
"Freedom Essentials" which cost $20 less per month for almost exactly 
the same benefits: I lost free calling to Canada, but gained Call 
Waiting with Caller ID, which would have been an extra $8.50 a month 
under my old package.

Verizon also now has a cheap 768/128 kbps DSL package for $15/month with 
a 12 month contract and $20 installation. They include a router  and you 
can get wireless for an extra $15. That makes DSL cheaper than dial-up 
Internet access and makes a phone/DSL package cheaper than cable/VOIP if 
you don't have or want a standard tier cable TV bundle.

Jan Werner