SIP is reaching critical mass, look for SIP everywhere in the coming year

The big telcos need  to get used to the idea that we’ll be paying for voice connections over their dedicated network less with growing speed. There will be a declining market for them to connect SIP to non-SIP PSTN devices, but there’s no long term future in it either.

Increasingly, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is playing a similar role as the common denominator interconnecting diverse communication devices and networks. And although the protocol geeks either love or hate SIP, its rapid adoption makes it impossible to ignore.
The entry-level price for an SIP telephone fell to $40 in 2007 from $400 in 2002. Chip manufacturers like Texas Instruments and Broadcom already have third-generation functionality in the pipeline. Best Buy et al do not currently carry SIP phones, but web sites dedicated to SIP-enabled products (e.g. telephonydepot.com) arrived in 2007. Hundreds of companies (e.g. Betamax Group) bridge SIP calls to the traditional telephone network. Fring provides free software that turns mobile handsets into SIP clients enabling voice and IM functionality via Wi-Fi and 2G or 3G data plans. (from GigaOm)

Will 2008 be the tipping point? Probably not. Will your future voice communication continue to be tied to 10 digit numbers and dial tones? Not a chance!