For the last decade, the industry and press have declared the
death of voice, or at least the traditional PSTN network.
Like the premature report of Mark Twain's death, the reports
are exaggerated, but not without merit. Voice is dying, but
it is not dead; in the telecom industry, change happens fast, but
implementation can be slow.
For years, communications networks have focused on the migration
from the old copper wire network infrastructure to optical fiber
and coaxial cable networks. This change makes sense because
newer technologies provide for increased capacity and speed, and
according to the carriers, maintaining the old switched copper
network is expensive. While the carriers have been announcing
this migration and telling the FCC that maintaining the
"old" services is untenable, and while enterprises and
the carriers' own networks have quickly gone to the more robust
technologies, old fashioned voice and PRI/ISDNs/ analog access
continue to exist.
