It has been reported by Point Topic a popular research firm that an increase by 15 per cent in the number of subscriptions to VoIP (voice over internet protocol) has been witnessed in the period between January and September in the year 2009.

It was further estimated by the research firm that currently one hundred ten million VoIP customers existed across the globe, who made good use of IP telephony to save considerably on their call charges.

According to the senior researcher at Point Topic John Bosnell, a steady growth has been witnessed by the industry despite the drastic global economic recession.

Bosnell added that nonetheless for VoIP there was an argument that such conditions proved to be an uptake driver, as one should be saving considerably by making calls over internet protocol.

It has been reported that a fresh Microsoft Windows client based beta 4.2 version was launched by the popular provider of the voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service, Skype, which accommodates support for High Definition (HD) video calling.

Nonetheless, there is also a disappoint angle for it, as many UK broadband internet service providers are understood to be unable to handle the bandwidth standards recommended for using the broadband service. The recommended standard is 1Mbps sustained symmetrical bandwidth.

As a matter of fact, the broadband internet connection required for running the HD feature should not only be offering a download speed of 1Mbps, but also have to upload at the same speed. Besides this, the user also requires a fairly competitive computer equipped with a HD-compatible webcam.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Skype, Josh Silverman said about the new feature that they could bring their customers even closer to their loved ones through a strikingly richer as well as meaningful experience in video calling, with Skype’s new video call feature of HD quality.

It is undoubtedly refreshing news for those home -phone customers that are lamenting on an eye-watering phone bill in the wake of the festive season in the United Kingdom. As a matter of fact, it is also understood that of the quarter of people in the United Kingdom that made such calls over the Christmas season, no more than a third adopted steps to save money.

The consoling news relevant to the situation is that the vogue online voice communication service; Voice over Internet Protocol, conveniently called VoIP can help the customers make considerably cheap – if not free – calls using the person’s broadband internet connection. The nuances of the situation have been revealed by a research carried out by phone compare website; Homephonechoices UK.

According to Michael Philips, the product director at Homephonechoices UK, The popular providers of the VoIP service that uses the broadband internet connection of the customer instead of the person’s phone line are, Skype and Vonage. He added that making calls to the customers of the same VoIP service provider, say Skype to Skype, is totally free of charges.

On the other hand, the website warns the buyers of this service to be careful while choosing a service provider, citing a significant fact that there were several VoIP providers in the country offering overseas calls of more or less the same call quality, although their connection and installation charges could vary.

It was further clarified that while the VoIP provider Vonage connected a VoIP box to the customer’s broadband modem, which in its turn connects to the standard home phone of the person for making calls in the traditional way, Skype helps their customers make calls directly from their PC or laptop via a headset. However, the customers are required to download the Skype software.

The unlimited international call packages of Vonage starts from GBP 6.99 per month, while Skype has showcased a number of monthly as well as pay-as-you-go subscriptions, which allowed unlimited Europe calls from GBP 3.99 a month , beside an unlimited package for international calls from GBP 7.99.

This is quiet apparent in the words of the chief executive officer of Phone.com, Ari Rabban that VoIP has thrived rather than languishing in the hostile economic conditions across the world, to emerge as a popular option for small business firms looking to reduce the expenditure of their phone bills. Phone.com is a VoIP provider based in the United States.

Rabban further hoped that the VoIP market would carry on thriving even in the year 2010, although its success would not be confined to fresh technology, but a package including increase in the hardware sales and the actual usage. He was speaking to technology website TMCNet.

Skype is the most popular service pertaining to VoIP, which enables the customers to effectively reduce the expenditure caused by their fixed-line phone bills, by allowing them to use their broadband connection for making calls.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that VoIP’s phenomenal popularity would not be welcomed with a pleasing smile by the broadband providers, particularly for a couple of reasons. Firstly, VoIP could be a drain on broadband internet traffic, due to its hunger for bandwidth, and then there are also a number of ISPs that offer broadband phone packages.

VON, the acronym stands for Voice On the Net Coalition. It is a body that includes some big names of the internet sector such as Skype, BT, Microsoft and Intel in their list of membership. It has recently shot back into news as it strongly urged the European Union to take action against those mobile broadband service providers that blocked the VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services deliberately from being accessed on their 3G/cellular networks.

It is an undeniable fact that a number of mobile broadband suppliers in the UK, including Vodafone tend to block VoIP services like Skype from being accessed on their mobile broadband network. The main reason for such actions from the part of the mobile broadband ISPs is believed to be from the fear of the revenue robbed of from the standard voice calls.

The appeal of VON is very much expected to prompt the European Union to draft some new policies that would ensure that mobile broadband service providers do not prevent the users access services such as VoIP over their network. As a matter of fact, the group has been trying to do it for quite a while, although without any considerable success.

On the other hand, mobile broadband operators can practically block certain other online tools too, apart from VoIP over their services. This includes even MSN-like instant messaging clients. However, something worth mentioning here is the significance of mobile broadband visualized by Lord Carter, which is apparent in his interim Digital Britain report.

According to the Digital Britain report put forth by Lord Carter, mobile broadband was expected to play a great role in meeting the end result of broadband for every household in the UK. It is under this circumstance that Lord Carter is also much interested in taking into account such issues. This, in a way gives hope to VON on its fresh issue.

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