VoIP News: November 2009

The Scottish government has been called upon by an MSP to spend £15 million delivering improved broadband services throughout rural parts of the country. A windfall of at least £40 million is currently available to the government and Peter Peacock, MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has said part of the money should be spent on improving connectivity in rural communities. Mr Peacock said the money could be treated as an initial step in delivering the same internet services in remote regions of Scotland that city dwellers enjoy.

The vast majority of people throughout South Yorkshire are to enjoy broadband speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) through a £90 million network. A range of local authorities in the region and Yorkshire Forward part-own Digital Region, a body that has worked with Thales UK to produce the next-generation network and connect 97 per cent of homes and businesses, potentially producing more effective VoIP hardware.

Many web users may choose to access the internet from mobile phones as other mobile broadband services are not as fast as fixed-line alternatives, says an expert website. According to Broadband Genie, two-thirds of mobile broadband users in the UK have had to put up with connection speeds below one megabit per second (Mbps) through the course of this year, despite claims from internet service providers (ISPs) that much faster services are available.

A study is underway by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to find out the scale of demand for next-generation broadband speeds in the region. People living in regions such as Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Bedfordshire can register their interest online if they are keen to have access to next-generation broadband speeds faster than the two megabits-per-second targeted by the government's universal connectivity policy.

People living in Bournemouth get the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, with connections averaging eight megabits per second (Mbps), according to a survey from Top 10 Broadband. The website surveyed more than 2,600 postcodes throughout the UK and carried out nearly 200,000 speed tests to compile the data and found that Bournemouth offers significantly higher speeds than many of Britain's biggest cities.