SunRocket customers stumbling about in shock with Gizmo in hand may not be quite ready for another upstart just yet, but the talk of the industry this morning is the launch of Ooma Inc. Ooma is a new startup founded by Andrew Frame and Ashton Kutcher (yeah, the actor) that promises free domestic calls to any VoIP customer in the United States.

Broadband users shell out $399 for the base hardware, into which you plug a normal phone. You can buy additional units for $39, dubbed "Scouts," that extend the range of the system throughout the home at each phone jack. The service then uses a peer-to-peer architecture to dodge termination fees and offer free voice calls.

Or least that's the startup sales pitch being regurgitated by startup promoting blogs this morning. The system working well depends on enough people buying these Ooma devices so there's significant national coverage. It does appear to integrate POTS functionality, should you (shudder) retain a bare bones landline as a backup and to make 911 calls.

The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg says he's been toying with the system for a week or so and, at least in the isolated trial womb with full company support at his beck and call, it works as promised:The company says they're going to be seeding the country with 1,500 free devices this summer to get the core network up and running, with the product set to launch at retail in September.

We do believe that voice service will eventually be free (it's just data, after all), but for some reason we have a hard time believing that it's Ashton Kutcher who's going to make it happen.