29 September 2005
Home telephone bills will soon be on the way out, a newspaper report has said.
The Scotsman reports today that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which allows users to make home telephone calls using a broadband connection, could signal the end of separate telephone lines.
The new technology "has made the leap towards becoming an essential household device, possibly leading to the abandonment of domestic landlines altogether", the newspaper says.
The range of services and providers has increased exponentially over the past few months. As well as BT Communicator, Skype and Vonage, Dixons this week entered the fray with its Freetalk service, and GossipTel, Wazatel, The Internet Phone Company and Telappliant have all started to offer services.
Simon Turner, divisional managing director of DSG International, Dixons' parent firm, told the Scotsman that traditional phone companies must adapt or die: "This is the most significant development in the telephone market since the launch of the mobile phone and will transform the way we use phones.
"The days of old-style fixed-line phone calls are numbered."
Jon Miller at uSwitch.com told the Scotsman that customers would soon have excellent technology at their disposal: "Until recently only computer nerds have used it because it has only been possible to use it while the computer is switched on.
"That's changing, although even with the new adaptor from Dixons the system is still quite cumbersome and many consumers might be better to wait until the hardware becomes simpler and more reliable."
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