Is this the End of Long Distance as well as the End of Local?

Tim Bray writes about his experience getting VoIP Ongoing with his DSL setup.

and in a related post over on SlashDot….Voice Over IP Goes Global, The DNS Way

awehttam writes “A couple of geeks have setup a non-profit public DNS root designed to map phone numbers to Internet protocols. These days we’re hearing lots about Skype, and Voice over IP. Asterisk – the open source PBX – is nearing its version 1.00 release, Free World Dialup has applied to run the .tel top level domain, Good old Bell’s are migrating to native IP, private sector layer 2 clearing houses are exchanging bits between companies the like of Packet8, China Telecom, MIT and Harvard and even the various regulatory agencies are pondering just what to do about things. In the mean time, consumer SIP phones are dropping in price, and free and open source software is helping to drive a new generation of provide the services networks.” Read on for more.

“You just knew the other shoe had to drop. E164.org let’s people register their existing phone numbers, and aim various services including VoIP towards a URL on the Internet. Now you can have your calls sent to your Free World Dialup account, or routed to your home Asterisk PBX instead, possibly where you have a $20 card attached to your phone line letting you make and receive calls through both your regular phone line and the Internet. E164.org isn’t just about VoIP though, it can also map phone numbers to Email addresses, Instant Messager URL’s, or any other protocol that fits in the “foo://bar” scheme of the ‘net. :)”

How close are we to the End of Long Distance as well as the End of Local?