A reporter with a Eurocentric perspective nails the core issue about the telcos. VoIP has them in a choke hold. Neville points out Skype, other VoIP service offerings and points out that the enterprise is moving towards VoIP which hurts the telcos.
I go beyond that and say that USA based VC’s need to look really closely at what they are investing in, as do the investment banks. There are many good companies bringing technology to market outside the USA and a great deal is happening in Asia, Europe and Latin America where the climate is ripe to pass by legacy type circuit switched networks, which in some cases are not installed, and go right to VoIP.
The future for VoIP is very bright, but only if the countries encourage adoption.