Will VoIP kill the telco star?

A nod to pop music group the Buggles* in the title of this Red Herring website post on VoIP -- Will VoIP kill the telco star the latest article pointing out how mainstream telephony is fumbling the opportunity to emerge as winners in the new IP based world that is rapidly emerging...

A particularly interesting point made in the article -- a report of one individual's experience in switching over to VoIP -- the phone company did nothing to try and keep this business:

Qwest did not handle the transaction well, failing to complete the hand-off of my old telephone number and cutting me off from the world for several days. Rather than competing for my business – there was no call asking if they could find a way to keep my business after I requested the number be moved – they made it difficult for me to stay connected.

I love the comment from the Qwest customer service person as well when the reasons were explained for the switch:

Wow, that's a lot of savings every month.

The author reports savings of 87% on his total phone bill.


*(Video killed the Radio Star on their Age of Plastic album)