AT&T and Verizon are investigating this newfangled thing called VoIP and if it works as an alternative to switch based telephone systems.  The FCC has decided to allow them to do some limited testing on how the world would change if users were assigned IP addresses as opposed to telephone numbers.  Hopefully at some point they will realize this will have more to do with MAC addresses than static IP addresses but it is nice to know that they will at least do some research into the consequences of dumping switch based physical circuits.  The Inquirer's coverage mentions that the FCC will not regulate this testing which could be a good or bad thing; they are a bit technologically impaired but at the same time Ma Bell has never been good at respecting their customers rights.

"TELECOMS PROVIDERS in the US have been given a green light to explore the idea of replacing traditional telephone communications with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk