Skype, computer phone

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by Gunner

Internet phone service costs the "provider" like Skype or MagicJack (or the many others who have come and gone) absolutely nothing. The connection between one proprietary phone widget and a matching one is taken care of the same way every other connection on the Internet is - by the shared support of all users and some large subsidized switching networks.

What Skype, MJ etc. provide is the essential connection and addressing service: their server lets you click on JoeShmoe in your address book and connect to Joe's phone widget, without having to manually dial in connection info like Joe's IP address.

As this service is also next to costless, ANY charge for the ongoing service is questionable; would you pay someone to tell you what exit to take at the end of a 1,000 mile interstate drive? The only legitimate basis for fees and costs is in the engineering and support of the phone widget, be it a magic box or a magic applet. Otherwise, the company is charging you to use a public road already paid for by taxes, tariffs and your ISP subscription.

If you call another Skype user, yes...

Calling outside of the "network" requires PSTN access (public switched telephone network), so no it's not nothing to run.

Another option is a cell phone that can work over WIFI in poor coverage areas (Sprint and T-Mobile offer this on some of the phones).

I'm also not sure how these guys are skirting all the tolls and taxes imposed on a phone number. (E-911 alone is $1.25/mo.) I'm suspecting it's the same subsidy that these "free cell phone" providers are offering.

AT&T is currently asking the FCC to let them out of the land line provisioning mandates (basically "POTS" is all but gone).

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

If you call another Skype user, yes...

Calling outside of the "network" requires PSTN access (public switched telephone network), so no it's not nothing to run.

Which is why Skype has never been free to call landlines (or accept calls from landlines) - we had to pay some token balance to bring one user into our conference calls.

I'm also not sure how these guys are skirting all the tolls and taxes imposed on a phone number. (E-911 alone is $1.25/mo.)

Because although they provide what is nominally the same service, the method and transport puts it outside the dense regulatory and tax arena generally known as tariffs. Tariff rules are so tightly written that sending a voice call over a data connection is simply not addressed, therefore does not exist.

This will all change in the near future.