Replacing PSTN with VoIP wise? Was Re: Phone networks struggle in Hurricane Katrina's wake

Wed Aug 31 06:33:05 UTC 2005

Telecom New Zealand announced the other day their intention to do 
precisely this.

"In relatively short order we will replace the entire PSTN and be 
delivering all our services for customers over the IP network. That has 
the potential to reduce costs for customers and put a lot more control and 
flexibility in customers. hands, wherever they are . at home, at work or 
on the move.."

>From http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=3223&page=index

I have to say I would usually agree with you - but it looks like I may not 
have a choice, going forward... The whole country to be migrated by 2012.

The whole idea of not having POTS to fall back on doesn't sit well with me 
- As part of AREC we prepare for a situation where all other means have 
failed.  Suddenly it seems so much more likely... ?

Mark.

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) wrote:

>
> Me? I personally never trade my POTS for VoIP...
>
> - ferg
>
>
>
> -- Iljitsch van Beijnum <iljitsch at muada.com> wrote:
>
> On 30-aug-2005, at 22:08, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) wrote:
>
>> "In this age of cheap commoditized consumer electronics and
>> advanced mobile technology, why can't all the people of a city make
>> contact during an emergency?
>
> Simple: it's too expensive.
>
> Keep this in mind when trading in your POTS service for VoIP service
> over the internet. Discounting the local loop which is often the same
> in both cases, POTS is extremely reliable while VoIP over the public
> internet, well, isn't. But apparently people that switch to VoIP
> don't mind the reduced likelihood of being able to make calls during
> the next large scale emergency.
>
>
>