VoIP News: January 2008

Birmingham city council's cabinet member for children and young people has called on broadband providers to bridge the "digital divide" with cheaper internet access for poorer families. Councillor Les Lawrence, the Conservative member for Northfield, said government figures show 800,000 pupils in England do not have broadband access at home, leaving them at a disadvantage when it comes to carrying out research for schoolwork.

Many small and medium-sized businesses are finding that voice over internet protocol (VoIP) systems are driving a move to more efficient business applications, an industry expert has said. Writing on Voip News, Owen Linderholm said that although many businesses were attracted to VoIP by the obvious benefits of lower telecommunications costs, many more were discovering that it can help improve overall efficiency.

The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) has announced the finalists for its tenth annual internet industry awards. Prizes are awarded in 13 categories for consumer and business providers, including best business broadband, best shared hosting and best streaming. There also awards for the internet hero and internet villain of the year.

A new project to bring broadband speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (mbps) to UK homes has been launched by fibre specialist H20 Networks. Under the Fibrecity scheme, a fibre network will be laid in a British city which, when used in combination with wireless, will provide unlimited connectivity and high-speed data transfer. The network would allow businesses to work from any location, with faster communication for features such as voice over internet protocol.

A UK firm that uses internet protocol (IP) signalling over broadband to eliminate the "weak link" of telephone lines has been given £500,000 to support its global expansion. The Emizon Group, which is based in Sheffield, was awarded the money by the South Yorkshire Investment Fund. It will help the company explore new markets for its system, which it says is the first secured messaging service designed specifically for IP networks.