My window to the world


The Ooma telco revolution

By Mauricio Freitas, in , posted: 19-JUL-2007 21:07

I am reading about the Ooma service and box, just being released in the U.S. Om's got more details but here is the summary:


So how does Ooma manage “free” voice calls? Say you call Manhattan. Ooma routes the call to an Ooma box to the 212 area code, with the local carrier accepting it as a regular outbound call. It works even if the destination number lacks an Ooma box.

It’s free to you, though it does cost the Ooma box in far-flung area codes, but most of the local call plans are flat rate and come with unlimited calling. Ooma piggybacks on existing phone services, bringing all the things you expect from a traditional phone service, like dialing 911. (Walt Mossberg gives his thumbs up to this service.)

In telecom lingo, this is called distributed termination. The more boxes on the Ooma network, the more termination points - and , more voice calls the system can carry to the public switched phone networks.

Think of it another way: What the PC did to the mainframe, Ooma is doing it to the telecom switch.

I cannot overstate the wrath Ooma will feel from incumbents. Since Ooma threatens the carriers’ core business, they’ll do their best to crush it, arguing Ooma bypasses the local access regulatory structure.



Well, this is incredible indeed. And while simple in its essence, it is probably a lot of technology crammed into the Ooma box.

While this happens there, here in good old New Zealand we are still trying to unbundle the local loop, have naked DSL and a decent broadband service...


Other related posts:
Vodafone UK Twitter wasn’t hacked, just a disgruntled employee
Telecom and Vodafone have we covered where kiwis work, live and play - your turn to sell it now
There are more serious things than Bill Shock: modern telephone fraud


 

Permalink to The Ooma telco revolution | Add a comment (4 comments) | Main Index




Comment by Stu Fleming, on 19-JUL-2007 23:35

"While this happens there, here in good old New Zealand we are still trying to unbundle the local loop, have naked DSL and a decent broadband service..."

I don't think this is fair to the few innovative NZ companies that are producing VOIP and Internet service innovations.

While it may not be possible (and indeed be undesireable) to build national infrastructure to compete with incumbents, it is certainly possible to build smaller-scale offerings that do provide quality service (and which should be encouraged).


Comment by James, on 24-JUL-2007 18:33

Not to rain on your parade, but we already do this with an Asterisk box set up by some local Kiwis.

Works through our existing PBX, need no special box, I still use the same desk phone and do nothing special.

Calls from our office to the US are completely free, and various other setups to get lowest-cost routing are also in place.


Author's note by freitasm, on 24-JUL-2007 18:36

@ James, yes it is possible to do it. But not on the scale they are trying. You can not possibily have outgoing lines in all major cities in the country - which is what you could expect from a push like this.


Comment by Mike, on 28-JUL-2007 18:21

Your comment: "I cannot overstate the wrath Ooma will feel from incumbents."

In fact, all the phone company has to do is charge every such OOMA user twice or three times as much for their phone line, since they are no longer using it for "residential" service, and that completely kills the service. And I'm quite sure that the PSC is every state will back them up on this.

Another reason why OOMA can't work. In the end, no one will allow their land-line to be used for this.


Add a comment

Please note: comments that are inappropriate or promotional in nature will be deleted. E-mail addresses are not displayed, but you must enter a valid e-mail address to confirm your comments.

Are you a registered Geekzone user? Login to have the fields below automatically filled in for you and to enable links in comments. If you have (or qualify to have) a Geekzone Blog then your comment will be automatically confirmed and shown in this blog post.

Your name:

Your e-mail:

Your webpage:

freitasm's profile

Mauricio Freitas
Wellington
New Zealand


I live in New Zealand and my interests include mobile devices, good books, movies and food of course! 

I'm the Geekzone admin. On Geekzone we publish news, reviews and articles on technology topics. The site also has some busy forums and is part of the Microsoft Featured Communities.

Subscribe now to my Geekzone Blog RSS feed or the Geekzone RSS feed.

If you want to contact me, please use this page or email me at freitasm@geekzone.co.nz. Note that this is not for technical support. I don't give technical support. You can use our Geekzone Forums for community discussions on technical issues.

Here's is my full disclosure post.

Blog template by Su Yin.



Some random pictures


Professional Conference Attendee


Social networks


My Blog by tags...

Blog...
Entrepreneurship...
Media...
Personal...
Technology...
Viral Marketing...
Windows...
Windows Mobile...


Other recent posts in my blog

Vodafone UK Twitter wasn&rsquo...
Telecom and Vodafone have we c...
There are more serious things ...
Windows Mobile 6.5.3 in the wi...
Google YouTube on TelstraClear...
Microsoft Developer Survey - w...
Learn about Open Source at LCA...
Prizes for Geekzone Freeview P...
AT&T LG eXpo Windows Mob...
AT&T LG eXpo Windows Mob...


Some links

Mozy online backup
Diskeeper
mywedding - dynamic websites for couples
Seagulls - meeting and event venue in Wellington

Recent comments received

rphenix on There are more serious things than Bill Shock: mod: I would hope the VOIP Provider would come to the party of a loyal customer. Obv...

sbiddle on Telecom and Vodafone have we covered where kiwis w: I don't work for any telco. In fact right now I don't work for anybody but mysel...

ajw on Telecom and Vodafone have we covered where kiwis w: sbiddle, on 7-FEB-2010 09:10Do you work for Vodafone sbiddle. You always seem to...

Motahar Hossain on Free Microsoft Windows Vista Professional and Micr: I would like to download Vista Professional licenses for free. Please direct me ...

barf on There are more serious things than Bill Shock: mod: From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/03/voip_hacker_guilty/By Dan Goodin in...

freitasm on Checking your mobile data usage online is not easy: Check the discussion in our Geekzone Forums. There are links to where to check y...

henareho on Checking your mobile data usage online is not easy: I've had a problem with this meter since Telecom upgraded to the XT network. Wit...

Owen on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 in the wild: advances in User: @KevDaly you can update the devices to any OS pretty much (if it has the resourc...

Webgirl on Adobe Download Manager: It appears that download Download Manager is a key component of the Adobe Reader...

freitasm on Telecom and Vodafone have we covered where kiwis w: Grasshoper I really can't see a point in your comment. All the smartphones you l...



New posts on Geekzone