A brief "how this stuff works" piece on VoIP I wrote for the current issue of Wired Magazine:
Regional and long-distance carriers, facing extinction, are lobbying government officials for protection. California, Minnesota, and at least nine other states are pushing for some sort of regulation, and the FCC is weighing its options. Meanwhile, big telecom is joining the party. International voice carrier Teleglobe is acquiring a VoIP wholesaler, and others are poised to follow suit. Cox, Comcast, Cablevision, Qwest, and Time Warner are also rolling out VoIP offerings. Their existing customer bases, fat pipe IP infrastructures, and coveted "last mile" connectivity create a powerful triple threat. And, as more telecommunications monopolies around the world open up for competition, the cost savings promised by VoIP seems destined to spark a market shift as dramatic as the one that followed US telecom deregulation decades ago.
