Articles for Category Tag - voip

Fixed wireless broadband ISP VFast (Orbitalnet), which covers a large swathe of Kent in South East England, has partnered with internet voice provider Vonage to offer residential Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services and cheaper UK or international calls.

The often outspoken boss of business ISP Andrews and Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has today accused the communications regulator, Ofcom, of “destroying competition” in the UK market for Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone services.

The long awaited SmartCall service from cable ISP Virgin Media UK, which allows Smartphone users with a Virgin Phone Line to use the unlimited calls from their talk plan on their mobile (so long as you have a wireless internet connection), should finally surface “later this year“.

The Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association (ITSPA), a trade body for the United Kingdom’s VoIP industry, has announced the winners of its 5th annual 2013 ITSPA Awards. This year the gong for Best Consumer provider went to Localphone and BT was the runner up.

BT Retail has today announced the launch of its new SmartTalk (BTSmartTalk) app for Apple iPhone and Android mobiles. The app requires a wifi or Mobile Broadband connection and enables customers to make phone calls via their smartphone and have them billed under their existing home phone plan (whether in the UK or abroad).

Cable operator Virgin Media has announced customer trials of its new SmartCall service, which allows UK Smartphone users with a Virgin Phone Line to use the unlimited calls from their home phone talk plan on their mobile. But you’ll need to have a wireless internet (wifi) connection to make it work.

Ofcom’s latest broadband speeds report (released this week) also includes a unique and useful insight into the Latency (Ping) and Packet Loss performance of the UK’s largest ISPs, which can have a serious impact upon the performance of specific internet applications (e.g. online video games, Skype etc.). But which provider is best?

A new study by Rebtel, which claims to be the largest independent VoIP (Voice-over-IP) provider after Skype, has found that almost 60% of UK Smartphone users would be prepared to switch Mobile Broadband networks if operators continue to impose traffic blocks or slow down access to online voice calling and other internet streaming services.

The European Commission (EC) has responded to BEREC’s final report into Net Neutrality (the principal of treating all internet traffic as equal), which criticised fixed line broadband ISPs and Mobile Broadband operators over a lack of transparency, by proposing to stiffen industry guidelines through “strong and targeted action” and deliver more “effective consumer choice“.

The Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association (ITSPA), a UK trade body for the Voice-over-IP (VoIP) industry, have announced the winners of its 4th annual 2012 ITSPA Awards. During the ceremony Voiptalk was named as Best Consumer VoIP provider.

The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), which is composed of the heads from 27 national regulators (e.g. Ofcom in the UK), has published its preliminary findings on internet Traffic Management practices by broadband ISPs and mobile operators in Europe. The practices were found to “vary widely” between countries and providers with some exceptions, the blocking of VoIP (e.g. Skype) and P2P (BitTorrent – File Sharing) traffic is common.

Business ISP Entanet, a UK telecoms and internet supplier, has suggested that the national communications regulator (Ofcom) must “be prepared to step in” and force Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to stop their “anti-competitive practices” (e.g. blocking VoIP traffic) by protecting Net Neutrality (the principal of treating all internet traffic as equal).