VoIP News: June 2008

Cable & Wireless up bid for Thus

Cable & Wireless has made a statement to the London Stock Exchange confirming that it is in discussions with Thus Group – a broadband provider – and may raise its offer for the company to £330 million.

Thus rejected a bid from Cable & Wireless – which has 24 per cent of the shares in the company - at the end of last month, believing the £302 million offer to be inadequate.

While the Thus board has said the new offer is "worthy of consideration", it did not feel it warrants recommendation to investors.

The board said in a statement: "It is the Thus board's view that the offer is not such a compelling proposal that the Thus board could give a recommendation to Thus shareholders to accept the offer at this time."

Cable & Wireless have increased their bid as broadband providers in the UK fall under further scrutiny following a survey of broadband speeds by moneysupermarket.com.

Few broadband connections reach the speed of which they advertise, with the higher connection speeds offering the least amount of value for money, the survey found.

Posted on: 2008-06-30, in: Broadband

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New system aims to help VoIP traffic problems

A new system which allows companies using IP telephony solutions to test their own VoIP phones has been unveiled by Tektronix Communications.

The system, called Zoey, is designed to be integrated with the customer care facilities from the VoIP provider to reduce the time taken to repair problems.

As legacy IP networks were not designed for heavy VoIP traffic businesses can experience problems with their VoIP phones – Zoey allows users to identify the problem before they call the helpdesk, saving valuable time.

"Having the right test tool for the job is essential," said vice president and general manager of network management at Tektronix Communications, Mark Driedger.

"Zoey provides end-to-end visibility in mixed circuit and packet environments and is an ideal tool that will support end-users and reduce the amount of time spent on the line with customer call centres."

The problem of legacy networks is a big one in the UK and companies have even looked to the sewers for a solution.

H2O Networks are one such company investing in the idea, with the cities of Bournemouth and Dundee soon to have a sewer-based fibre-optic broadband network installed, capable of speeds up to 100Mbps.

Posted on: 2008-06-30, in: General VoIP

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Revolutionary change to web addressing

An international body in Paris has voted to change the way web addresses are named – opening up a potential gold rush in domain name buying.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced a relaxation of restrictions on naming, so that rather than just '.com', '.org', and '.co.uk', we could see suffixes like '.insurance' or '.london'.

"The potential here is huge. It represents a whole new way for people to express themselves on the net," said president and CEO of ICANN, Dr Paul Twomey.

"It's a massive increase in the 'real estate' of the internet."

The first applications will not begin being accepted until a final version of the plan has been given the green light by the ICANN board – probably early in 2009.

Non-Roman characters, like Asian or Arabic letters, will also be available to use for the first time, which was hailed as "very important" for the internet in countries that use these languages.

This has led to speculation that the Internet may become less English-dominated – making it less centralised as a result – although as has been the history of the internet, the future is difficult to predict.

Posted on: 2008-06-27, in: Broadband

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Voice technology to expand beyond VoIP phones

A new system software architecture will enable the use of voice on every IP device - beyond the current realm of VoIP phones and other VoIP hardware – Texas Instruments (TI) has announced.

Modular Open Voice Engine (MOVE) software will allow manufacturers of VoIP phones to easily and cheaply customise audio, visual and other multimedia products they offer.

Fred Zimmerman, director of CPE voice solutions at TI, said: "TI’s MOVE software architecture makes the dream of enabling voice on every IP device a reality by equipping customers with a solution that allows them to customise their own software on top of what TI already provides."

The announcement comes as the demand for VoIP solutions seems to be rising.

A report by Peter D Hart Research Associates and The Winston Group has revealed that less and less people are using air travel due to rising costs and unsatisfactory service.

For businesses, video conferences are the next best thing to meeting in person, and the new technologies could provide a cheap solution.

Posted on: 2008-06-27, in: General VoIP

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VoIP UK wide by May

The remotest parts of Scotland will soon be able to access broadband – and take advantage of technology like VoIP - after a £3.3 million contract was awarded by the Scottish Government.

Work on the connections begins in July and it is hoped to be completed by May 2009.

The news means areas as distant as Argyll and Rousay in Orkney will soon be able to take advantage of faster internet.

"In this 21st century, as many people as possible should have broadband access. It is a vital tool for business, helping drive economic growth, and is now used by ever more households as standard," said Jim Mather, enterprise minister.

"I'm pleased that every single eligible household and business should now benefit from affordable broadband access over the coming months, giving business a boost and enhancing the lives of householders."

Remote Scottish businesses will now be able to introduce cost-reducing VoIP solutions, which require fast connection speeds due to their heavy VoIP traffic.

VoIP solutions are becoming extremely popular in UK businesses, and every VoIP provider in the UK will be welcoming the news that their potential customer base has expanded.

Posted on: 2008-06-27, in: Broadband

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