How the Gigabit City Challenge impacts VoIP

It’s tough to ignore all the bonuses that come from VoIP technology. Most data plans offer free domestic long distance, to reach all those clients in other states you didn’t even know you had. Then you’ve got advanced teleconferencing capabilities, and amazing levels of customization and the ease of adding new extensions, and, well, we could go on and on (and we often do). 

But for some, there will always be that little bit of worry. Sure, VoIP is great and all, but you still need a landline, right?  Just to be safe, yeah?  Well, the previous king of landlines, AT&T, isn’t so sure, and the traditional landline looks to become a thing of the past.

The Federal Communications Commission itself is looking forward to the all-IP telephone company, having previously suggested that the traditional landline setup may outlive its usefulness by 2018.  The tomorrow the FCC sees is starting today; AT&T filed a petition in late 2012 with the FCC, wherein they asked for a proceeding to facilitate the telephone industry’s transition “from legacy transmission platforms and services to new services based fully on the Internet Protocol (‘IP’).”

So many of the arguments against VoIP are addressed right there.  If telephone companies are switching to IP, the worry about not having access to emergency services like 911 will be eliminated.  And the infrastructure will be there to support VoIP, instead of it being just some sort of experimental technology.

That very infrastructure is due to get a major expansion soon, thanks to the Gigabit City Challenge. Issued on January 18th 2013 by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, it calls on broadband providers and state and local community leaders to bring gigabit Internet to at least one community in each state by 2015.  Gigabit Internet is to current high-speed Internet what a cable modem is to dial-up: no more stalled downloads, but more importantly, the ability to handle all the phone traffic you can throw at it.

Ultimately, VoIP has so many advantages, thanks to lower cost and better technology, while many of the items previously thought of as disadvantageous are becoming things of the past.  Soon you too might agree with AT&T and the FCC and think “Landlines, shmandlines.”

If you’re looking to make the switch to VoIP, or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.