AT&T plans a Bring Your Own Access VoIP service for consumers, Vonage style.

The article mentions that such a service could offer « services like ‘pick your own area code,’ ‘phone number for life,’ and the ability to reach the service from anywhere over the Internet. »

I hope the trend of BYOA services will increase and that connectivity will be considered a basic utility-like service. From what I can see, bundling service with access, or restricting them based on corporate affiliation, is tempting for entities in the position to do such things.Some people call it convergence. Au contraire, I think convergence comes from abstracting services and information from a given support, be it a material support or a specific delivery medium.