here's one that might be interesting to watch:-
http://voce.com
voce is a "premium cellular provider". you purchase a phone for a one-off $500 (you can upgrade for free every 12 months), then pay $200/month for unlimited cellular and gprs usage. there's no contract as voce wish to "... earn your business every day". in itself, for some of us, that's not a bad deal already.
but the key feature that voce offer is the availability of a "personal assistant" that you can contact 24/7 by dialling 611. they guarantee to pick up in three rings, and can be asked any questions which can be answered by either internet or phone (so you could have them book restaurants, research something for you, take your place in a hold queue etc).
this is an interesting idea which looks well executed and at the right price-point to appeal to the 30-somethings.
i've been thinking for a while that there's a gap in the voice market where "premium service" value adds could fit nicely. this applies equally to voip "landlines" - a niche space to differentiate your service from the stereotypical voice 1.0 providers.
