This question is a follow-up to a previous question asked to Carrie Higbie, which was: "I want to open my own VoIP company and become a long-distance provider. What equipment do I need and how do I set it up? How much money is needed for the initial startup costs?"
My question is: Once you have purchased a carrier-class switch to start a VoIP company, what licenses will you need in order to provide service to customers? What is the carrier-class switch connected to (i.e., trunks, landline, IP, etc.)? Do you have to set up a resale of service relationship with a larger phone company (i.e., Sprint) and lease lines?
QUESTION POSED ON: 08 MAY 2006
QUESTION ANSWERED BY: Russell Shaw
Given the growth of VoIP, it would be easy for an entrepreneurial person such as yourself to want in on this dynamic technology. But despite the presence of con artists that will tell you this is the time to strike while the iron is hot, I have to tell you that based on my daily involvement in and exposure to the VoIP world, now is not the time to do this. In my opinion, the VoIP carrier business is becoming so centralized, and with a regulatory tilt toward the larger cable and telecom carriers, that starting your own VoIP service would be a highly risky undertaking. Although there are Web sites that come up if you run a Google search about starting your own VoIP, most of them are, at best, mere aggregations of keywords designed to trigger display ads. Some of these sites distribute spyware as well.
-- Russ
|
|
|
