In reading Jeff Pulver’s Parent’s Don’t Understand (a grumpy post if I ever read one, Jeff!)and then Andy Abramson’s Being on the Inside, I was struck by an apparent disconnect that really just demands explanation. Toward the latter part of Andy’s piece, Andy writes:
What I question is how they plan to overcome the resistance of the carriers, both mobile and data, who seem to continually want to keep forward looking technology in the dark rooms and just make money based upon their roots of being 1.0 telcos first.
Andy suggests that the net neutrality debate has a bearing, or that the SJSU Skype flap is part of this mess, but I don’t get it. Isn’t the point of both Jajah and RebTel that they are working within the existing network and regulatory frameworks? Neither of these companies is a pure VoIP play which can be blocked through packet shaping, deep inspection, or some other means of degrading the network. Both are piggy-backing the existing regulatory framework, and the existing networks. It seems impossible, to me, to impact what they do without rewriting the regulatory framework (ie. in the US the 1996 telecom act) to prevent competition.
What have I missed?
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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Great post Alec
Couldn't agree more. http://blog.roam4free.ie/a-bit-late-to-be-crying-…