Via Venturewoods:

We have example of GrandCentral , a startup which offered a telephone number for life , Once you have a Grand Central Number you need not to change it when you change service provider , move to a new city or whatever . They promised “One Number for One Life ” very romantic .Many people [including me , just for the heck of it ] signed up for it . sometime down the line .Grand Central got acquired by Google . with in few weeks of selling out . Google changed the policy and issued new numbers to existing GC users . There was a small outcry but Google silenced them by offering money for reprinting Biz cards .

So, is there a case for localized service inspite the big don’t be evil   google!!! …
I think yes for building users but a little doubtful on the revenue part of the service.