Comments on: FAQ: Demystifying VoIP

As use of Net telephony increases, so does the number of questions about it. Here are answers to some of the common ones.

Cable VoIP

I noticed an inaccuracy in your article with respect to Cable provided VoIP service. I work for Charter Communications, in support of it's local telephone service, and have some knowlege here. Most of our areas are serviced using VoIP technology, however we DO offer primary line telephone service, as do most other Cable Telephony providers.

The inaccuracy I noticed in this story is that we DO guarantee the same level of service as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) providers, on and off of our network. In fact, calls that leave our network travel to the rest of the telephone network using the same technologies, and interconnect relationships used in the rest of the POTS world. This means that those calls are treated with every bit as much urgency as any other POTS telephone call.

One other point I'd make is that while we do install equipment at the home in order to facilitate the connection, and this equipment does require a local power source, it is battery backed up so as to provide service even in the event of a power outage. As a vast majority of power outages are shorter in duration than the 8 to 24 hour capacity of these batteries, you are unlikely to see any disruption in service as a result of a power outage. In fact, if a power outage lasts longer than that, it's probable that the POTS lines have been affected as well.

We have more information available on our web site: www.charter.net., You can also find more information on much of the equipment in use by cable telephone providers at the Arris, and Nortel web sites, found using a web search.

A Slight Quibble...

...I tried to investigate your QoS claim on the Charter site, but hit a wall when I was instructed to check out state Public Service Commission requirements...

Once your calls are inserted into the public switched telephone network, of course they have the same QoS as the telephone network; however, the only QoS comment on the Charter site is the following:

*** "we are required to maintain a reliability rate of 99.9 percent for local telephone service." ***
http://support2.charter.com/support/telephone/contentredirect.asp?sprt_cid=996f4ebc-288c-4984-b3c7-18620828abbc

This of course flies in the face of your post's QoS claims, as the PSTN has FIVE nines of reliability, which, for the layman, is 99.999%

I have cable-VoIP. I like my cable-VoIP. But it ain't POTS-QoS unless (and until) it's POTS.

[ntrsource]

5 million users? WHAT!

5 million users? WHAT! where did you pick that number. Remember this is not the lottery Ben.

WOW this story about VoIP is the most misleading story I have read in a long time by a Staff Writer... ANY Staff Writer. 5 Million users? where did you get that number from Ben. It would be the same as if you claimed that the hula hoop was the most used fitness device being sold in the USA today, who would believe that unless you owned one and I sure don't. First let me correct you by saying that SKYPE has had more than 140 million downloads as of today with more than 20 million people using their service daily. Close or a little above this number are paying subscribers which you correctly mentioned pay only about 1.7 cents per minute. VONAGE and all the others charges an arm and a leg plus as you correctly stated must sign long term contracts. By the way I got to give you some credit, I think this is the first time anyone besides myself has ever told people in these articles that a contract must be signed prior to using their service. Let's take VONAGE for an example, they spend close to $200 in advertising to acquire one paying customer that will be paying $14.95 per month and as time goes by they will get up to the $24.95... what else is new?.
Well let me tell you what's new. The AdCallsCommunicator, that's right. The AdCallsCommunicator gives you FREE VoIP and I mean FREE VoIP service. Call any telephone in the USA and Canada, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska, you can even call GUAM absolutely FREE. All you need is a computer and you can call ANY telephone, Cell Phone, Home phone or business phone for FREE right there from your computer. You can even call from Mexico and several other countries without spending a dime by utilizing the AdCallsCommunicator which are FREELY available from companies such as http://www.CallOnMyDime.com, http://www.GratisCoupons.com, http://www.AdCallsCommunicator.com and from http://www.NTRSource.com. If you haven't already downloaded your VIRTUAL Cell Phone then do it NOW, do it today and please tell a friend. With close to 18,000 downloads per day these companies above sure are doing the right thing which are, let people make these calls for FREE and at least have just one thing to get excited about. Try to live by what I was once told. "If you are willing to do what others won't, you will have tomorrow what others don't".
Make it a great day...

[Rod Adams]

Infrastructure investment support

As I read about VOIP, I cannot help but wonder who is going to
make the infrastructure investments required to improve the
quality of service for ever increasing numbers of subscribers
that are using the common network infrastructure for free.

If there is no revenue model, I cannot begin to guess who is
going to buy the switches, routers, and fiber devices necessary
to keep the packets flowing.

Secondarily, as large numbers of people leave traditional phone
providers with their heavily taxed services, how will local and
state governments replace the lost revenue? Will they continue
to allow the Internet services to ride for free? What will happen
to some of the minimum service level phone services that are
provided as a lifeline to people and subsidized by all other
subscribers? Most of those people do not see "all you have to
have is a computer and a broadband connection" as a
reasonable hurdle for simply wanting a phone in case of
emergencies.

Oh noes!!!

You think maybe, just maybe, that state & local gov't might think of a new tax? Naw, they'd never do that. MEGO