The Free World Dialup project, for now being run under the auspices of consulting and trade show company Pulver.com, aims to create a peer-to-peer network that allows people to borrow each other's phone lines over the Net, making any call a local call.
Already in early trials using equipment from Cisco Systems, the project is scheduled to launch initial tests with ordinary callers in late March or early April, using kits that will cost consumers US$150. While serious technical and real-world adoption hurdles remain ahead, the project does mark a new step forward for the peer-to-peer networking model. Where most consumer applications previously have focused on sharing or swapping digitized content such as music or videos, Free World Dialup instead shares communications networks.
That potentially raises a dangerous concept for telephone companies already struggling with falling profits and tectonic shifts in networking technology: If they lose the traffic cop's role directing voice and data traffic on their networks, they could find themselves with even more pressure on their bottom lines. That alone is enough to draw interest to what company CEO Thomas Anglero calls a first "proof of concept."
But analysts say no matter how compelling a technology model, Anglero and partner Jeff Pulver are walking into a mine field.
"The logistics of this are absolutely nightmarish," said Forrester Research analyst Bruce Kasrel after hearing a description of the model. "If the carriers were involved, this might have a chance of working...But this is not something you can do behind the carriers' back."
