News Archive - August 2006
Freshtel claims 351,000 VoIP customers
August 31, 2006
Freshtel, which operates wholesale and retail VoIP services in the UK and retail in Australia says it had a total of 352,000 customers on its network at the end of June 2006. It claims to have added 47,000 in the past three months.
August 31, 2006
Both the VoIP/IMS market and the enterprise telephony markets saw gains in the second quarter of 2006, according to new research.
Sprint Partially Settles VoIP Patent Dispute
August 31, 2006
Sprint Nextel said it has settled a lawsuit against tglo.com and Theglobe.com, two of the three companies it claimed infringed its VoIP patents.
Biggest Commercial Bank in China Goes VoIP
August 30, 2006
The Agricultural Bank of China, China's largest commercial bank, with revenues exceeding $250 billion, was looking to decrease its long-distance phone expenses between its more than 50,000 domestic and international branches and affiliate offices. To do this, it will use VoIP.
First VoIP Phone Launched in Ireland by Siemens
August 30, 2006
Siemens are about to launch their first VoIP/DECT Dual Mode cordless phone in Ireland that allows callers to phone fixed networks or enjoy the benefits of Internet Telephony even without a PC being turned on.
Dixons axes Freetalk VoIP service
August 30, 2006
Freetalk, the internet telephony service from Dixons, is shutting up shop just less than a year after it launched, handing its current subscribers over to Vonage.
August 30, 2006
DirecTV is set to test an Internet phone service through its joint venture with Hicks Holdings as it tries to head off competition from cable operators using bundled services to attract and retain customers.
VoIP quality claimed to beat PSTN - worldwide
August 29, 2006
According to testing company, Minacom, VoIP phone service worldwide now sounds better and connects faster than the standard PSTN. However this achievement does not extend to the likes of Skype and GoogleTalk.
August 28, 2006
Google and eBay announced a multi-year agreement to benefit both companies' collective communities of users, merchants and advertisers around the globe. The agreement consists of two primary components involving text-based advertising and "click-to-call" advertising functionality.
Upgrades Fuel Voip Enterprise Market as Companies Replace Aging Technology
August 28, 2006
Largely due to the integration of computer-telephony networks and communication tools, enterprise hardware spending has rebounded from the slow economic growth that plagued much of the market in 2001-2003.
Factors that affect VoIP Quality
August 28, 2006
This article dives into some of the potential problems that can affect VoIP quality, rendering it unacceptable.
High-Definition Videoconferencing For The Boardroom
August 25, 2006
Teleconferencing makes it possible to bring multiple groups together without the need to travel to a common location. Tandberg's Centric 1700 MXP takes the concept to a new level—in HD. Plus, it uses the industry-leading H.323 protocol.
Gartner Warns of Expensive VoIP Phones
August 24, 2006
Businesses will waste $20.3 billion on over-expensive VoIP telephones over the second half of the decade, according to Gartner.
August 24, 2006
Worldwide retail VoIP subscribers jumped from 10.3 million at the beginning of 2005 to over 18.7 million by the end of the year.
GIPS and Skype Expand Relationship
August 21, 2006
Global IP Sound (GIPS) announced it has extended its relationship with Skype. This relationship will enable hardware manufacturers the ability to offer Skype-compatible IP phones that utilize GIPS technology.
August 21, 2006
Broadband service provider Pipex Wireless has published the results of its WiMax trial in Stratford-upon-Avon, coinciding with reports that its financial backer Intel has promised a "blank check" to European carriers willing to deploy the technology for fixed and mobile VoIP and data broadband services.
August 21, 2006
Avaya is busy bolstering its VoIP story for branch offices as research firms named the vendor, along with Cisco Systems, the market leaders in enterprise VoIP.
Cablecos Win: Mexico Opens VoIP Floodgates
August 18, 2006
Mexico's second-largest cable-TV operator, Cablemas, disclosed that it received fixed-telephony licenses covering 13 of Mexico's largest cities - a licensing landmark that could open the floodgates of competition between cable providers and phone companies in that country.
August 18, 2006
A new generation of internet pay phones are ready to hit the streets in Australia, wrapping broadband access and IP telephony into a single device.
Saving $700,000 with a VoIP Overhaul
August 17, 2006
The VoIP market for hardware and software is led by Cisco, which had 24.3% share in the first quarter, according to Synergy Research Group. Avaya came in second with 23.4%. Companies looking to make a conversion in one fell swoop are likely to opt for what's known as an IP-only system offered by vendors including Cisco, Nortel, 3Com and others.
Twenty-four million pay for VoIP
August 17, 2006
The number of retail VoIP subscribers jumped more than 80% to 18.7 million during 2005 - or 24 million if you add users of PC-to-phone services such as Skype.
The Next VoIP System: Pure IP or Hybrid?
August 16, 2006
Enterprise VoIP solutions come in two distinct flavors: the hybrid or converged IP-PBX products—capable of supporting both TDM and IP communications—and the next generation of pure IP solutions. Ultimately, the hybrid IP-PBX approach will be as passé as the plain old telephone systems (POTS) that have largely been relegated to the scrap heap.
New Philips Dual VoIP POTS Handsets
August 16, 2006
Royal Philips Electronics has entered the Australian market with a couple of cordless handsets that bring PSTN and VoIP together for the masses.
Analyzing the Microsoft-Nortel VoIP Deal
August 11, 2006
Microsoft and Nortel can learn much from each other, users and analyst say, as the companies ally themselves to develop unified communications technology. And they'd better learn fast.
VoIP Spam: Calling You From Nigeria
August 11, 2006
VoIP has dropped the cost of international calls so drastically that sleazy marketers and scammers call into the U.S. from overseas to evade our country's do-not-call regulations. And the problem is only getting worse.
VoIP Subscribers Jump 21 Percent in 2Q
August 9, 2006
U.S. subscribers to Internet-based telephone services grew 21% to 6.9 million in the second quarter, with cable TV companies expanding their lead in market share compared with Vonage and other pure-play providers.
Open-source VoIP company wins funding
August 9, 2006
Digium has received $13.2 million in first-round venture capital funding from Matrix Partners for the development of Asterisk.
Could SIP's Faults Foil Its Future?
August 9, 2006
Security problems and standards issues might wind up stalling SIP in the future, which would be a huge blow to IMS networks. — We would argue it already has. In spited of the repeated use of the word "emerging" as an adjective for SIP, we like to remind people that SIP is more than 10 years old! IMS is about 6 or 7?
Q&A With Asterisk Creator, Mark Spencer
August 9, 2006
Mark Spencer who started Digium and wrote the Asterisk PBX software is one of the true pioneers of the post-PSTN era. Asterisk, an open source PBX/telephony platform has a million users worldwide and it is downloaded about 1000 times a day.
Video, VoIP Translation Service Eases Language Pain For Patients And Doctors
August 8, 2006
The video and voice service allows doctors in California hospitals to quickly get translators to communicate with non-English-speaking patients.
August 8, 2006
Taking a flyer on next-generation wireless systems, Sprint Nextel says it will use mobile WiMax technology to create a high-speed wireless network that will serve 100 million subscribers by the end of 2008.
August 7, 2006
Telcos striving to build up their VoIP profits are unlikely to pass on any savings on capital or operating expenditure to their VoIP customers in the near future.
VoIP traffic to double in a year
August 7, 2006
The volume of VoIP traffic crossing telecoms networks is predicted to double over the next 12 months, and IP call quality on some services may suffer as a result.
August 6, 2006
Skype is expected to announce a version of its service for Windows-based mobile phones in a move that reflects eBay's eagerness to profit the multibillion-dollar purchase of the VoIP pioneer.
August 4, 2006
Free webs calls will be divorced from the PC by early next year - a move that is essential if the technology is to go mainstream.
FCC pushes for broadband over power lines
August 3, 2006
Federal regulators renewed their push for a wider rollout of what has been hailed as a viable "third pipe" for the many areas where broadband choices have been limited to DSL or cable modems.
Cable to Hit 11M VoIP Subscribers in '07
August 3, 2006
With the number of North American broadband homes approaching 50 million, U.S. and Canadian cable operators have now signed up more than 4 million VoIP subscribers and will likely add at least 7 million more subscribers by the end of next year.
August 3, 2006
Businesses who switch over to internet telephony systems in a bid to slash telephony costs have been warned to guard against hacking attacks.
Building VoIP Into the Business Infrastructure
August 3, 2006
VoIP is slowly but surely making strides at organizations far and wide. According to Infonetics Research, 36% of large organizations were already using VoIP products and services in 2005.
Business guide to implementing VoIP
August 3, 2006
This article provides a good overview of what VoIP is, how it relates to older technology, covers IP and TCP a little, talks about the benefits and problems with VoIP, and finally has a little to say about implementation.
Time Warner Cable calls Sprint Nextel for VoIP support
August 3, 2006
Sprint Nextel announced that it will be working more closely with Time Warner Cable to help provision its Digital Phone Service in an additional 14 service areas and using its large IP infrastructure to carry the VoIP traffic for Time Warner. — This might be a big nightmare for AT&T. When will I get fiber to my home?
Microsoft Takes the VoIP Plunge
August 2, 2006
After years of dipping its toe in the waters of unified voice and data communications, Microsoft is ready to dive in headfirst, unveiling its Unified Communication Product Roadmap and Partner Ecosystem.
Pipe Networks to offer VoIP peering
August 2, 2006
Pipe Networks has launched Australia's first commercial VoIP peering service enabling VoIP providers to directly interconnect VoIP calls with other VoIP providers reducing interconnection costs and increasing service performance.
August 2, 2006
Giving its first earnings report as a public company, Vonage delivered the expected mixed bag — big subscriber growth accompanied by big costs and big losses.
Comcast VoIP Rollout Spurs Verizon FiOS
August 1, 2006
Clearly feeling the heat from Comcast's accelerating rollout of VoIP and discounted "triple-play" bundles, Verizon Communications is stepping up its own deployment of FiOS broadband data and video services around the country to counter its growing loss of phone access lines.
Full Promise of VoIP Draws Nearer
August 1, 2006
Numerous companies are bringing VoIP to the next level by either taking advantage of advanced features such as broadcasting, presence, find-me/follow-me features, Web conferencing, and videoconferencing, or by using their XML-enabled phones as clients for certain back-end applications.
VoIP takes root in home offices
August 1, 2006