I'm not so sure...
Unplugging from Asterisk severs at least one tie, as Asterisk is a full-fledged PBX system (read: telco interface), and you still have to pay extra to a SIP provider to get to a land-line (just like Skype offers), so that's not much of a foot in the door either.
Also, from everything I read, Microsoft wants to integrate the technology in all their Cloud stuff which pretty much inextricably ties it into use of their software which I must say is miles away from being called a public utility.
Maybe when governments finally wrest control of the internet from the people by calling it a "civil right" we'll see some of that, but hopefully that's still a long way off...