It seems that every time a major telco or cable company unveils a VoIP offering it gets a ton of press. The latest, of course, is Verizon 's plan for VoIP. Like every other major telco/cable company (with the surprising exception of Cablevision), the plan is based on (a) being a bit cheaper than existing telephone service and (b) a bit more expensive than existing independent VoIP players. It's something of a hedge, and it's designed not to completely cannibalize their existing business, while hoping that their brand name either pulls in a premium or that clueless customers won't know they get the same sort of thing from any of the other providers. Also, Verizon looks like they're going to do more bundling packages concerning VoIP, so it gets a bit cheaper if you also get DSL from them. This makes sense, of course, though the combined deal still seems a bit pricey.