Broadband News

VoIP On The Rise

(10-01-07) - VoIP On The Rise - BT has announced its one millionth Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) customer six months ahead of target, indicating a sharp rise in the number of people using the innovative technology to make calls over the internet.

Ofcom predicts that by the end of this year the UK will have three million PC to PC VoIP users, with a further million using it to call traditional land lines, and businesses beginning to take note too.

Gavin Patterson, Managing Director of Consumer and Group Marketing for BT Retail said: “We now have more than a million customer accounts for our VoIP services and UK consumers are clearly happy to embrace internet telephony when it is straightforward to use and offers great value.”

Broadband users wanting to make use of VoIP can also use sites like Skype, MSN and Google Talk, and if they know when their friends will be online, calls can be made completely free of charge.

However, since 70 per cent of UK households rely on a landline for their ADSL connection (Ofcom), the time when VoIP replaces traditional landlines is still some way off.

With this in mind, Chris Eagle, BroadbandChoices Commercial Manager, said: “While it’s great that consumers are leveraging the power of their internet connection they should shop around for alternative call packages from suppliers like YourCalls.net, First:telecom and Toucan. Customers can get a better quality of call and tariffs which are just as competitive.”