Land Grab on Free Local Voice

Who is not stampeding to AOL to take advantage of free personal local phone numbers with always-on voicemail as part of the firm's roll out of new free services? AOL tops already land-breaking voice services from Skype (free Internet-based call-in and call-out, free conferencing of up to five parties), Google Talk (free Internet-based call-in and call-out) and Yahoo Messenger ($0.02 per minute call out to non-Internet numbers).

Desirable area code phone numbers can be had for a matter of clicks. Phone numbers could proliferate as have email accounts and mobile devices. Bye-bye Ma Bell. Now we are just waiting for ubiquitous wireless broadband networks, oh, and the physical implantation of miniaturized communication devices.