Communications report 2013-14 series: report 2

Are you one of the more than five million adult Australians now using a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service? The evolution of VoIP in Australia, the second complementary report in the ACMA Communications report 2013–14 series, shows that VoIP services have been a big part of the rapid change in the voice communications market since 2010. The evolution of VoIP can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the increased availability of broadband across Australia, developments in the OTT communications and media market, and the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets. VoIP is the name for a range of technologies that allow voice communication to be made using internet protocol (IP) technology. Australian consumers have access to two main types of VoIP services: managed VoIP services bought through a service provider over-the-top (OTT) VoIP delivered by an application that is run over the top of another carriage service. Australians are continuing to take advantage of cheaper or free OTT services such as Skype and Viber. The proportion of adults using OTT VoIP services (on mobile phones, tablet devices, or laptop or desktop computers) increased from 15 to 24 per cent in the four years to 2014. However, Australians are less satisfied with their VoIP service than their fixed-line and mobile phone services—77 per cent of consumers are satisfied or very satisfied with their VoIP service compared to 89 per cent for fixed-line phones and 86 per cent for mobile phones. Satisfaction levels increase up to 84 per cent for those with a paid subscription to a VoIP service

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Once you are aware of the benefits and applications of Voice over IP, it is too good to resist. Perhaps that is why vendors are flooding the market with VOIP products and services. The following paper analyzes the various issues in the evolving VOIP technology and the challenges in the development of VOIP products. It then presents the features of few VOIP Products offered by the leaders in this field, how well they handle the issues and som

State Regulatory Approaches to VoIP: Policy, Implementation, and Outcome

This Article explores the many perspectives on Voice over Internet Protocol ( VoIP ). The notion of the Article is not to resolve the definitive approach to VolP. Rather, this Article suggests that the process of the approach has itself become muddled. Individuals quibble, contrasting the superiority of one perspective over another, negating the reason why they were looking in the first place. This Article is the second part of a project to survey and analyze state VoIP policy. The first part of the project surveyed state VolP regulatory activity. This part seeks to place that precedent in a centrifuge, segregating out different groupings of precedent to determine whether patterns or lessons might emerge