Voice over Broadband goes mainstream
| Voice over Broadband goes mainstream | |
24 June 2004
With the broadband roll out in the UK gathering increasing pace, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is no longer the preserve of techies and the big corporates. A growing number of companies have recently announced services that allow consumers and businesses to route their voice calls via their broadband connection. And, as if to confirm that these companies must be onto something with this Voice over IP malarkey, BT has also revealed that it plans to do away with circuit-switches by 2009 and route voice calls over the net instead. As ever the US market is about 18 months or so ahead of the game in the UK and is generally a reliable mirror of what’s in store here. The latest predictions from across the Atlantic are that three in ten homes in the US and the UK could be switching to web-based phone calls over the next three years. Researchers Mercer Management Consulting forecast that offers of cheap voice calls will not, however, tempt customers away from larger well established providers. Life is going to be tough for the start-ups who have, by definition, to start from scratch and win customers over. Incumbents and other large companies with a track record and, more importantly, an existing customer base will have an easier ride even if, to an extent, they have to play catch up with the technology. So who are the players in the net phone market? And what’s currently on offer?
The American telecoms giant plans to test its new VoIP service in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore this autumn, with an expected launch date for a full commercial service in 2005. Aimed at multinationals.
The fixed line incumbent has announced that it is migrating to an internet-based platform over the next five years. They reckon the move should result in savings for them of £1bn a year. The new platform will handle both voice and data calls and replace the UK’s trusty public switched telephone network (PSTN). Customers will move onto the Internet Protocol-based network from 2006 with the bulk of customers using the merged service by 2008. BT has been at pains to assure the public they can expect the same quality of services. BT Wholesale chief executive Paul Reynolds said: “We want to be absolutely clear that using IP technology in our network for our premium quality services is a gulf apart from the new budget voice over the Internet services being launched almost daily by a wide range of providers.”
To date C&W has concentrated on supplying internet telephony products to blue chip companies. This does not look set to change much with launch details of Cable & Wireless IP Voice which the company says will offer a better quality of service than is possible with voice connections run over the public Internet. The service is aimed at businesses that operate at multiple sites, presently use separate private networks for voice and data, and who want to merge their traffic onto a single network. It is claimed that by converging voice and data traffic, the network should be easier to manage and simplify the deployment of video conferencing and unified messaging.
Gossiptel is targeting consumers with its low price offer and free voice calls to other Voice over Internet Protocol users anywhere in the world. The one caveat with the free calls is that the recipient’s service is SIP compliant (Session Initiation Protocol). Calls can be made to standard land lines as well. Prices vary, but calls to Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand cost 2.5p per minute or less at any time. Users can sign up for Gossiptel for free, but have to supply their own VoIP handset or buy an internet telephony adapter for a standard phone to handle broadband voice calls. The alternative is to choose one of the Gossiptel starter packs costing £94 with an adapter or £117 for an adapter and a handset.
IPSpeak is reselling IPN Communications Inc.’s tried and tested VoIP products here in the UK. On offer are free IP calls, cheaper calls to landline or mobile phones worldwide, unique phone numbers, directory services and other features. Explained Peter Walker, chairman of IPspeak.net: “Thanks to IP technology, people in the US have had access to free and low cost calls for some time. With the increasing penetration of broadband, we saw the opportunity to bring the benefits of IP telephony to the UK public in a simple and easy to use package. We are fortunate to find a partner in IPN with the best product in the world to launch our brand.” Users get a unique seven digit number, free calls to other IPSpeak subscribers, and “hugely discounted” rates to any landlines anywhere in the world. Annual subscription for a single user is £50 per annum and includes a handset.
Essex firm, Europass Telecom is poised to launch consumer and business VoIP products from early July. Businesservice NoodleOffice will cost users a monthly subscription fee of £6.95, while the domestic offering, to be launched at a later date, will cost £4.95 per month and will enable customers unlimited free calls to all other Noodle users anywhere in the world during any time of the day. Calls to non-Noodle phones will be charged at around 30-50% cheaper than other ISPs according to Europass and will include a rate of 2p per minute for international calls between key destinations in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific at any time of day. Handset and connecting box will cost £59.95 for the domestic service while NoodleOffice will cost £120.
On Instant, meanwhile, is going after the small to medium-sized business market with its £12 per month per user package. This gives users free calls between subscribers and access to web applications including Client Relationship Management software and monitoring of when other users are available to talk. Currently there is a free 30 day trial download of the software. You will need one of the following to try it out; microphone headset, microphone and speakers or a USB phone, and be running either Windows 2000 or XP. On Instant will work from your office or your home on a desktop or laptop, a hotel room, a Wi-Fi hotspot, or using a GPRS or G3 mobile network. Business users - http://on-instant.com/ Consumers - http://www.on4.com/
Skype has been around since 2003, its VoIP software having now been downloaded in excess of 9.5 million times. The company has recently launched a beta version of PocketSkype which allows users to make voice calls from WiFi-enabled handheld devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003. A new Linux version has also been launched. Because Skype uses peer-to-peer technology, calls are free but limited to other Skype users. On the upside, Skype is 100 per cent advert free and claims superior sound quality, better than even a normal landline, and secure and encrypted communications. | |