Universal broadband pledge could boost UK VoIP traffic

VoIP traffic in the UK could be set to rise if government plans to give everyone access to a basic broadband connection comes to fruition.

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt will meet with telecommunication officials to discuss the viability of giving every UK household access to 2Mbps download speeds.

Super-fast broadband will also be on the agenda as Mr Hunt will seek to make next-generation connections available to those in rural areas.

The move could increase the number of Britons accessing IP telephony solutions as more people can use the technology.

David Palmer, senior product manager at communications firm Star, claimed that the minimum level should be even higher than 2Mbps.

"We are seeing a growing trend of UK businesses using cloud computing and on-demand services, and the primary enabler for this is higher bandwidth," he told the Guardian.

Around two million UK residents can not get 2Mbps broadband, while 160,000 are still without broadband of any form.