VOIP and its broader implications

Lots of fairly mainstream press coverage recently, most notably in The Economist (17 September issue) about VOIP and its impact on more traditional forms of telecomunications. It got me thinking about the impact of these developments for those in developing countries or in need in developed countries. Will the opportunities of VOIP, with making a phone call being similar in cost and procedure to sending an email over a mobile account, be the solution for those presently needing mobile phones to contact emergency services or access essential data? Or will those most in need be left behind by fast moving technological shifts?