

A Google Skype Buy Makes a True Data Phone Possible - luigionline
http://www.i4u.com/46429/google-skype-buy-makes-true-data-phone-possible

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joezydeco
Nice to think about. Let's get rid of those nasty "middlemen" carriers. Except
those "middlemen" built the hundreds of thousands of radio towers and the
massive infrastructure that carries the traffic.

How does Google/Skype get around that, short of building their own radio
network?

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corin_
Exactly, the author of the article apparently doesn't realise that if everyone
switched to data-only usage, they would still be getting billed by the same
carriers, who would alter pricing so that the data fees bring them the
required levels of revenue.

Obviously this can definitely change in the future, whether it's a new type of
technology, or Google funding wide-ranging WiFi networks, or some other
option. But frankly that's a _far_ bigger barrier than "but Google's VOIP
services aren't as good as they could be".

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joezydeco
The whitespace initiative might be the best viable option going forward.
Still, someone with a ton of cash would need to start building out the
network.

