Sun Rocket, a Voice over IP company, has the VoIP universe abuzz with their ambitious business plans to expand from 3 to 50 metropolitan markets in 2005, and the company says they intend to be a player in 300 metro markets in the United States. Particularly interesting is their flat rate annual fee--for $199 a year ($16.58 a month), you get flat rate, unlimited, nationwide calling.
If you ever wanted a reason to justify some modest community investments in broadband infrastructure, how about cutting the average phone bill from somewhere well above $50/month (local, long distance, taxes) to about $17/month.
Do the math. How much capital would that unleash in your community and region to spend on other things, like business expansion, more goods and services from local companies, and new jobs?
And if you decide to sit back and let the cable company and phone company re-monopolize broadband in your community, how long do you think they will play fair and let competitors offer services like this over their infrastructure? A community-managed, broadband transport infrastructure keeps the playing field level and fair and gives businesses and residential service users real choice.