Our resident curmudgeon checks in
Smarty Jones, Ace Emergency Dispatcher, sounds off on the problem of 911 and VOIP:
"In spite of all the FCC orders and proclamations of bureaucrats, politicians, business people and so on, wireless ALI or automatic line identification, is nowhere near meeting the deadline for the vast majority. Implementing it is fraught with problems. Realistically it's not going to happen for a long time. The problems are way too complex to go into here. But check the article below. VoIP? Hah! 911 people are totally against it because it inconveniences them even more than wireless. . . " (internal link, continues here with an article from Slate.com.)
Alcatel Telecommunications Review
Their latest issue is excellent. Instead of their typical thematic approach, Alcatel this quarter publishes a variety of topics about communication systems all over the world:
http://www.alcatel.com/atr/ (external link)
One fascinating article is entitled "High speed Internet in sparsely populated areas." It's a must read, I think this satellite based solution will be coming to America soon, providing web access and VOIP to many areas too small to afford broadband or to those off the grid completely. Perhaps a franchise opportunity?