What would the telecom world look like if all our communication was over the Internet and was totally free? What if a voice call was treated like an email or an instant message?
Does this mean telco as we know it is soon to be dead?
Yes, That is what I’m predicting.
Let’s look at how people communicate today. It’s not just voice anymore. As a matter of fact, traditional voice is the most inefficient of all the ways we communicate. It’s real time and usually involves just one other person. Email, IM, text messaging, and now Twitter and Facebook have become viable means of efficient communication. There are many times I instant message or text someone before I call to see if now is a convenient time to have a phone conversation.
In addition, the traditional telco system of area codes is no longer relevant. The geographical location of a voice user is no longer a concern. Most people have cellular plans where they are billed by the minute rather than distance. Landline plans are quickly following suit, and in many cases the minute charges are unlimited in favor of a flat rate. In fact,the latest research shows that if you are under 20 years of age you may never even own a landline.
Voice will be just another form of communication that comes alongside other forms of communication we use every day and the cost of voice communication will essentially be free. It’s already here. Skype now has 405 million users that can connect to each other and have video and voice conversations for free. Yesterday I was on a Skype call and could see that 16 million other calls were in use at that moment over the Skype network. Each of these were going on for free!
The way people communicate is changing and the business models must change with it.
The telco company that will win in the brave new world in which we live will be the one that can continue to create unique ways that allow you to talk like you’ve never “talked” before. It will not be limited by the boundries and paradigms developed for the “Public Switched Telephone Network”. We don’t need a phone anymore. We just need to communicate. Watch my future posts for some of the groundbreaking new ways SimpleSignal and our partners are changing voice communication…as we speak.
That’s why we need to talk. Contact me on my “one number for life” that can reach me anywhere 949-429-5929 or email, facebook, or IM me at dave@simplesignal.com
