NEWS Ofcom has begun to lay out the future for commercial voice over IP (VoIP) services in the UK.
The communications regulator announced that internet telephony service providers will be able to offer both geographic and non-geographic numbers to their customers.
Geographic numbers will begin with 01 or 02, like today's existing fixed-line telephone numbers. This will allow consumers to shift onto a VoIP service but retain their existing number, or choose another that indicates where they are located.
Non-geographic numbers for VoIP will begin with 056. These will be suitable for people who want to use their internet telephony service from a number of locations. For example, they could install the necessary software on their laptop and be contactable anywhere over a GPRS or 3G link.
Ofcom predicted that internet telephony, which it calls voice over broadband, will allow consumers to access features typically seen just in enterprises today - such as more sophisticated messaging options, video calls and large conference calls.
In a statement, Ofcom chief executive Stephen Carter said that the regulator's first take was to "keep out of the way", while still encouraging the development of new voice services.
This is Ofcom's first significant move in the internet telephony sector, and it appears to have found broad approval within the industry.
"It's looking quite good so far," said a spokesman for the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA), lauding the availability of both geographic and non-geographic numbers. "There was a concern that Ofcom might go with either one or the other. This gives flexibility to users," the ISPA spokesman added.
Ofcom also announced that it will run a public consultation into the tricky question of how functional and reliable a VoIP service should have to be.
Under UK law, any company offering telephony services must adhere to a set of provisions called PATS (publicly available telephone services). This means the service should be able to continue working after a disaster, and that users should always be able to call the emergency services, for example.
Complying with PATS can be expensive. A VoIP provider would have to pay for a gateway to the public PSTN network, which would be more costly than just routing calls over the public internet.
On top of which, anyone using VoIP over their home PC will not be able to use the service during an electricity blackout (unless they also ran a generator or an uninterruptible power supply).
ISPA has been lobbying hard that VoIP services should not have to comply with PATS. It recently claimed that this would "effectively deliver a death sentence to the UK's emerging VoIP industry".
"The way the UK broadband infrastructure is at present, you need a phone line in order to get a VoIP service," said the ISPA spokesman, arguing that VoIP will not be competing directly with PSTN services.
Ofcom's consultation will run until 15 November.
Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Simon
What's the problem with supporting calls during a power cut ? As long as the Telco/ISPs equipment stays running, they are providing a service.
Just like many cordless phones today, if a user chooses to use equipment that goes off when the power does, well that's not the telco/ISPs problem !
2. royston
to above...voip relies on a computer yes? or an internet system of some sort, i suppose any old broadband conection will work but just in case you haven't noticed your broadband modem goes off it it hasn't got any voltage to run it. voip will need some kind of equipment that is similar to turn you voice into electrical impulse and vice versa.
i am sure the electronics of voip is above my head but i do know that to use voip you need tx/rx equipment that has to have its own power supply. it is absolutly nothing to do with a cordless phone or a standard phone. chips need power, simply as that.
i've come to the conclusion you know as little about the system as me...except i think the isp will make you pay more if they have to supply the power to run your equipment as well as theirs, don't you think?
3. Jasmine
royston, cordless telephones have chips in them too, and they stop working when there's no mains power supply to the base unit.
4. Bruce
As the article said, to get a connection to the internet in the UK requires a connection to the PSTN. Why isn't it enough to say the PSTN connection can be used a powerless alternative in the event of an emergency?
5. Malachy McDonagh
Oftels concern for this is not totally unfounded, in the old day's all home and offices connecting to the PSTN used analogue lines, since these lines are powered externally, when a property suffers a power outage the telephone service is not disrupted.
To ensure that office services were available, system providers were required to connect dedicated phones to these analogue trunks, so that in the event the telephone system lost power emergency calls could be made.
However, a lot of things have changed over the years. ISDN and other digital services were introduced and these are not powered externally, plus with a relaxation of the rules it has now become the responsibility of the user to ensure that guaranteed connectivity is available. For a business this would be the provision a power fail trunks or UPS back up.
Fortunately for the home user the provision of broadband services for VoIP calls are provided on analogue trunks, therefore, they will always have access using a basic telephone, but for the business user it is a different matter.
VoIP is without a doubt the way of the future, but businesses must remember they have a legal obligation to keep their staff safe, and enabling them to make emergency calls in the event of a power outage is paramount, particularly for those who do not posses a mobile.
6. brandon
APC makes some great inexpensive backups just for this reason. Go out and buy a backup to power your modem, router and converter. That's what I did. Probelm solved. 50 mins or so of uninterrupted power.