VOIP

Telecompanies are scared of VOIP (internet telephony)...

If you ask me, they should have been scared of VOIP ten years ago. I know that I saw it coming.
It's like being tied to the railroad tracks, seeing the train coming and thinking: "well, not to worry, it's far away still. It's only the last meter which hurts after all."

(The article also has interesting facts about tech developments in Europe.)

"You know how young people are spending $10 billion a year on ringtones, just because it lets them express themselves?"
No, I did not know. Ten billion? Are these people insane? I don't get young people. And I say that without nostalgia, because even when I was one myself, nominally, I did not get them. I always got on better with adults. Adults had minds.

Another quote:
"(P.S. … As longtime Pogue’s Posts readers know, my biggest cellular pet peeve is the endless recording you hear when you reach someone’s voicemail: “To page this person, press 2 now. You may leave a message at the tone. When you finish recording, you may hang up. Or press 5 for more options”—and so on.
At the conference, I asked one cellular executive if that message is deliberately recorded slowly and with as many words as possible, to eat up your airtime and make more ARPU for the cell carrier. I was half kidding—but he wasn’t fooling around in his reply: “Yes.”
The secret’s out.)"