Text 255, 43 rader
Skriven 2004-08-01 09:11:30 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
    Kommentar till text 238 av Peter Karlsson (2:204/254.222)
Ärende: Fido on the move via cell phone.
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Peter Karlsson wrote to Robert Bashe on Saturday July 31 2004 at 23:01:

RB>> Even the Western plugs for phones (the little semi-square clear
RB>> plastic plugs with 4-8 connections)

PK> You mean the RJ connectors?

Yes, that's what I meant. They call them "Western-Stecker" here in Germany.

PK> Sweden had its own plug standard (which of course was different from
PK> all others, Norway has its own standard too, so does Denmark), but at
PK> least since the early 1990s most phones just had RJ connectors and
PK> adapters to plug to the Swedish plugs.

Germany has it's own plugs, too... everyone tries to keep out the competition,
and the easiest way is to design your own plug, make it standard in your
country, and make sure nobody can duplicate it without paying through the nose
(patent the design). But then some bast*** comes along and makes an adapter,
like you describe above (we have such things too), and the cozy little monopoly
is over again... ;-)

RB>> But if some day that changes, I predict a fall in the phone prices to
RB>> maybe 20% of the present levels within a couple of years.

PK> Especially with IP telephony coming. I have IP telephony at home for
PK> my landline. For 160 NOK a month (that's about 20 euro) I have no call
PK> charges for calls inside Scandinavia (except for to mobile phones).
PK> Quite nice.

That's why the regulatory administrations throughout the world are trying to
figure out how to prohibit, restrict or otherwise throw a wrench in the works
of IP telephony. There's a lot of money at stake, and the major telephone
companies are generally still in the hands of the respective governments. It'll
be interesting to see what excuses are produced for this ("protecting the
customer", "making the Internet secure", "keeping terrorists from using IP
communication for secret plots"), but when it comes right down to the basics,
it'll be about preserving the profitable business of the local (and generally
government-dominated) telephone companies.

Cheers, Bob

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