Sprint (NYSE:S) become the second carrier today to get in the Android camp, announcing it will start selling the HTC Hero, based on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system. While all the major carriers have pledged to support Android, Sprint is the second carrier to actually sell a device. To date, only the G1 and the MyTouch 3G are available from T-Mobile (NYSE:DT). With the addition of Sprint, Android will reach a larger audience and could be on its way to the mainstream. more

So Google’s GMail service was down yesterday, apparently due to some architectural issues that failed to isolate failed routers correctly. That follows major outages in February and May. Just ask a telco, a few hours of outages per month can very quickly not a few “nines” off your “ive-nines” uptime guarantees.

That’s not to say that everything is rosy in carrier-land, either. more

Who knew? Last we’d heard, the VoIP and Web-based calling business was fading, with companies like Vonage having a hard time competing and upstarts like Jangl calling it quits.

But all of a sudden, VoIP news seems to be everywhere, and almost all of it good. Skype, of course, selling out at a price that values the company at $2.75 billion, more than the $2.6 billion eBay paid for it (a seeming minor miracle).  Vonage’s stock soaring last week, then falling back slightly, before heading upward again as its iPhone app was officially approved. VoIP Web calling and SIP backbone player Jajah inking a deal with Microsoft. The profile of Google Voice rising at last, at least in part due to its much-noted trouble getting in to the iPhone store.

So why is VoIP suddenly so hot?

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