In a move clearly designed to make VoIP more available in the UK, Ofcom, the regulators of telecom in Britain announced efforts to further unbundle the local look.
This is a major step for the marketplace and will only futher propel adoption of VoIP by helping to keep the costs down. Expect some of the more established North American VoIP players to undertake efforts to either establish operations in the UK or form partnerships with the wirless phone companies in order to gain market share. Carphone Warehouse will likely lead the charge in this area. They already are selling wireline replacement via cell and broadband. I would not be surprised either to see Virgin enter the VoIP market. The two companies continually out market the existing giants and seem to have the idea of being customer centric nailed down to a T.
If any one company is hurt by this unbundling in the near and long term, it’s British Telecom.