June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
| MSc-IT Study Material June 2010 Edition Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town |
Table of Contents
VoIP, (also known as Internet telephony and IP telephone) has become more popular as the available bandwidth increases, and the cost of the bandwidth decreases. VoIP enables the transmission of voice data over the Internet (or other IP-based networks), potentially offer a cheaper voice communication alternative to traditional telecommunication providers.
Until recently, providing VoIP services in South Africa was illegal. However since February 2005 this has no longer been the case, and many now offer VoIP solutions. Telkom, one of South Africa's two landline-based telecommunications providers, has reduced their pricing for international telephone calls, where VoIP technology easily provides a cheaper alternative. VoIP service providers such as Skype and HowzitOnline offer free voice calls between their users within their network, and offer low-cost fees for making calls to traditional telephone network, even internationally.
VoIP's advantages include the following:
Lower cost: VoIP makes use of existing Internet infrastructure and incurs no maintenance costs except for connecting equipments.
Innovation: Traditional telecommunication technology progresses at a slow pace by the multinational International Telecommunications Union (ITU) committee process. VoIP allows freer and faster innovations to take place.
Easy to upgrade: Since VoIP is protocol-based, any new advancement can be incorporated both easily and cheaply.
Disadvantages
Bandwidth: International bandwidth is an expensive resource in South Africa. VoIP only works effectively at higher bandwidths, making it unavailable to consumers who might benefit the most from cheaper prices.
Equipment Requirement: Initially, computers were required to make VoIP calls, but the situation has improved in that there are now special handsets made for VoIP. Handsets are less costly than computers, but are not as easily upgradeable. Still, the initial equipment costs of a VoIP equipment remains much higher than that of traditional landline telephony.
Quality of Service: Since VoIP runs over the Internet, its quality of service may vary and cannot necessarily be guaranteed.
Since VoIP is not controlled by a standards committee, such as the International Telecommunications Union, there are many conflicting implementations of VoIP technologies, many of which are unable to communicate with each other. This no longer occurs with standard landline telephony.
Do you think there are other advantages and disadvantages of VoIP. Why has VoIP not taken off in South Africa, especially for local calls?