How Many Years Until 10 Digit Phone Numbers Are Obselete?

Now that mobile computing is really starting to takeoff how many years will it be before 10 digit phone numbers are obsolete?  Think about this.   You can make a VOIP call on your iPhone using Skype and that doesn’t involve using a phone number.   Devices will continue to improve, bandwidth will increase, and connection speeds will get faster.  What if Facebook or LinkedIn built a VOIP Phone into their iPhone apps?  All your friends are already on Facebook and chances are many of them have a smartphone.  What will happen when everybody has a web enabled device in their pocket with VOIP apps installed?  Just fire up your VOIP app and call them.   No PSTN (public switched telephone network) phone number necessary.   My guess is 7-10 years for individuals and 15 years for business until 800-555-1212 phone numbers will be history.

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