VoIP News: July 2009

There was a year-on-year fall of almost 17 per cent in the number of complaints against internet service providers (ISPs) between January and June this year, new figures reveal.

Just under 6,260 people lodged complaints about ISPs with the advice service Consumer Direct, meaning internet providers fell to the bottom of the top ten list of the companies receiving the most complaints in the UK.

More people now consider broadband access to be a utility as important to them as water or electricity and a fast connection can enable efficient usage of VoIP hardware, while facilitating quicker media downloads from the internet.

Despite this, many homeowners in the UK still lack a connection, but the government has sought to address this with the publication of the Digital Britain report, which pledges to connect every property to a service of at least two megabits per second by 2012.

Installing fibre optic networks in rural areas will be much more expensive and so alternative plans are being considered for these regions, such as using wireless networks or even satellite technology.

Posted on: 2009-07-31, in: Broadband

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The UK should target a faster baseline broadband connection speed than the two megabits-per-second (Mbps) figure outlined in the recent Digital Britain report, says Broadband Genie.

According to the broadband comparison website, the report soon to be issued by the commons business and enterprise committee evaluating the figure should find the 2Mbps target lacks ambition and will have little benefit for web users.

Faster speeds such as those delivered through next-generation fibre optic networks could provide more efficient use of VoIP solutions and faster download speeds.

Chris Marling, editor at Broadband Genie, said: "We can only hope the government's business and enterprise select committee, which announced recently it was holding an enquiry into broadband speed following Digital Britain, will have a little more backbone."

He went on to describe the 2Mbps target as "woefully in adequate" that will have very little meaning for web users by 2012.

New research from broadband industry regulator Ofcom reveals that over a quarter of web users do not receive the speeds they expected from their internet service provider.

Posted on: 2009-07-31, in: Broadband

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Web users based in rural communities have the option of facilitating their own access to high-speed fibre optic networks, according to an expert comparison site.

Chris Marling, editor at Broadband Genie, said that rural residents in the UK could follow the example of their counterparts in countries like Norway and the Netherlands, some of whom have dug trenches on their land to get faster access to fibre networks.

Fibre networks could enable broadband customers to use VoIP solutions more effectively and download content from the internet at a greater speed.

The editor said: "Farmers in countries such as Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden have dug their own trenches to ensure they can connect to a fibre network, which will probably be quicker and less painful than waiting for the government to dig them out of this particular hole."

Nearly 45 per cent of rural broadband users cannot yet access connection speeds of two megabits per second that the government plans to supply to every UK home by 2012.

Posted on: 2009-07-30, in: Broadband

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Broadband customers in Northern Ireland may have the best use of VoIP hardware as they have the fastest average connection speeds in the UK, a new report has revealed.

New figures from broadband industry regulator Ofcom show that of all the web users in the UK who are subscribed to a service with a speed of up to eight megabits per second (Mbps), customers in Northern Ireland enjoy the highest actual average speeds of 4.1Mbps, reports the BBC.

This speed is 0.2Mbps faster than the average connection available for customers subscribed to 8Mbps services throughout the rest of the UK and means Northern Ireland web users may have access to more efficient VoIP solutions and quicker downloads.

Denis Wolinski, Ofcom's Northern Ireland director, told the BBC: "It is very encouraging that some people here are enjoying the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, but we know that there are still parts of Northern Ireland, particularly rural areas, where speeds are much slower."

Wireless networks and satellite systems are among the various technologies being considered to address rural connectivity problems throughout the UK.

Posted on: 2009-07-29, in: Broadband

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Investing in high-speed broadband networks in the UK could be especially vital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help Britain remain competitive.

Through the Digital Britain report, the government has committed to making sure every UK home has a connection of two megabits per second (Mbps) by 2012, but internet service providers face pressure to invest in technology such as fibre optic cabling to deliver speeds of 100Mbps, reports Financial Mail.

Almost £1 in every £10 generated in the UK economy each year is produced by the digital sector and these companies will need higher speeds to facilitate VoIP hardware and help them run their operations more efficiently.

Simon Bulleyment, chief information officer at London-based chartered accountancy Haysmacintyre, told the Financial Mail Small Business panel recently: "As technology develops, growing numbers of firms will be looking to adopt video conferencing and teleconferencing, for example, so an efficiently working infrastructure must be there or firms - namely smaller firms - will suffer."

Virgin Media recently launched a 50Mbps service and faces competition primarily from BT.

Posted on: 2009-07-28, in: Broadband

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