VoIP News: February 2008

A company formed by North Yorkshire county council with funding from development agency Yorkshire Forward and the European Union has developed a high-speed broadband network to support a new creative industries centre in the county, reports say. The Scarborough Evening News reports that NYnet, which aims to keep the region competitive by providing next-generation broadband, is now providing an ultra-high-speed service to the Woodend Creative Workspace.

Communications watchdog Ofcom has proposed new guidelines to prevent broadband providers from adding unfair additional charges to consumers' bills, reports say. According to Comms Dealer, the planned guidance will lay out Ofcom's interpretation of the law and what providers need to do to comply. The site says providers will be required to be clear and upfront about their charges and they should also help consumers to understand them.

Trends in the market for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) via Wi-Fi will create "winners and losers" across the industry because no one vendor possesses all the components for a voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) solution, a new report has said. Successful vendors will have to build effective partnerships with a number of other companies instead, the study from ABI Research said. This VoWi-Fi partnering "ecosystem" must include close working relationships between manufacturers of private branch exchanges (PBX), fixed mobile convergence firms and handset providers.

A new survey from TeleGeography has discovered a rising trend in the number of VoIP subscribers throughout Europe. Reported by VoIP News, it is estimated that some 28. 9 million subscribers were active on the continent by the end of 2007.

A government review into the future of broadband should focus on four key areas, according to an advisory group in the sector. Kip Meek is the chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) which aims to discuss policy and commercial issues within the industry. Mr Meek said the review needs to address government intervention, regulation, the development of business models for broadband and policy issues.