The Future of Voice: Customer Issues

Abstract

Voice telephony has become ubiquitous and more affordable. In developed countries it is increasingly absorbed into other services and devices as a feature. In least developed countries it is available for a substantial and growing number of citizens. Nonetheless, a great many problems endure. Competition is still insufficient to eliminate problems and failings of markets. Old and relatively simple problems, for which we have solutions, have been replaced by new and more complex problems, for which we are still seeking solutions. One obvious complexity is caused as a result of increased bundling and with it leveraging power between markets.A simple test is to ask who today is raising money to enter the voice market - only a few start-ups offering VoIP. The real interest lies in mobile devices and in social networking software, where voice communications is merely a necessary feature.On one level, voice telephony comes free of charge with other services leading to fewer direct complaints.Yet voice telephony is still expensive in least developed countries, where prices are high, demand modest and often scattered across rural areas with little infrastructure of any sort. Where services are available, the prices can be ten or more times the very cheap VoIP offers found in OECD countries.Operators and regulators are mutually dependent, engaged in a highly specialized dialogue that reduces the amount of information available to the public and to politicians. Key decisions are made by a magic circle of unelected officials, engaged in an opaque and closed dialogue with operators. While conducted for the people, these processes are neither of the people nor by the people.