Rural VoIP traffic could soon rocket

More and more rural communities could gain access to IP telephony solutions if they follow a new model for super-fast broadband provision to isolated areas.

Countryside residents can provide themselves with next-generation access by using a self-financed programme that exploits existing telecoms legislation. This would deliver the bandwidth and reliability needed to use VoIP solutions.

The village of Lyddington raised £37,000 using such a programme, allowing Rutland Telecom to deliver the UK's first ever broadband service from a street cabinet using a process called subloop unbundling.

David Lewis, managing director of Rutland Telecom, said that this could be a sign of things to come.

"There had been a demand for it to happen, based on the hundreds of inquiries we have had", he said. "There is pent-up demand. People want to live in beautiful rural locations, but one of the main things they haven't got is fast internet."

Three-quarters of the readers of technology news and reviews website V3.co.uk disagree with the attempt to a landline tax in order to pay for improved rural broadband access, a recent poll showed.

Next-generation access in areas not covered by private sector broadband infrastructure would give isolated communities the opportunity to use online digital services such as VoIP phones.