Broadband Phone: Get Cheap Calls But Is It All Good?

What Is a Broadband Phone

To use this telecommunications system, you will need to have in a place a high-speed internet connection known as broadband.

A broadband phone lets you operate a phone line over your current broadband service - they are also often referred to as an internet phone. The system is known as VoIP (Voice over internet protocol). What this essentially does is to convert your voice into a digital signal, transmits it over the internet and then converts back to analogue at the receivers end so that they can hear the voice.

These broadband phone systems are becoming popular given that the call costs are particularly low and the resultant cost saving benefits. Once adequately set up, the broadband phone operates just like your normal phone line. Be aware however, your broadband connection/service could suffer from downtime or virus attacks and render your system inoperable for a time. Also, emergency calls are not always available and not all calls are always free of charge e.g. international calls.

The different Broadband Phone Call Plans

Just like any other service, competition is rife so there will be a number of deals to investigate and chose from. Each plan will offer list of features including current telephone number retention, international call block, low international rates etc. and these are available from as little as a few dollars per month.

It is therefore in your own interest to research the various broadband phone tariffs that are available and to ensure that the features they offer will be used - there is little point in paying for feature add-ons that you will not use. For example:

Vonage offers two broadband phone plans

Basic
Monthly Rental $15
Minutes of talk time p.m.: 500
Coverage: US & Canada
Equipment Cost: Included

Premium
Monthly Rental: $25
Minutes of talk time p.m.: Unlimited
Coverage: US, Canada and international
Equipment Cost: Included

bbTelysys offers three broadband phone plans:

Plan 1 - Second Year free, number of calls is limited - cost under Ł200
Plan 2 - Second year is free for calls and less than $300 p.a.
Plan 3 - Unlimited calls US & Canada - $25 p.m.

As you can see in the above small sample of broadband phone plan prices, it will take a little work to establish the right plan for you but the effort will be worthwhile if you wish to save money. As this broadband phone technology becomes more popular, more broadband providers will compete for their share of the market so prices should be driven down. So, do you want your broadband phone now or later?


Recent Broadband Phone News

NZ broadband performance rises, ISP gap widens - Scoop

July 3 – The quality of New Zealand’s broadband services edged higher in the first three months this year with new investment in the network by internet service providers (ISPs) in local caching or improved backhaul services. The gap between the ...  ...

TM to offer broadband services in Q1 - Business Times Malaysia

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd, the nation’s biggest fixed-line phone operator, said it expects to offer high-speed broadband services to consumers from the first quarter of next year. Telekom will begin “field testing” the broadband services in the ...  ...

Comcast will offer wireless broadband - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

PHILADELPHIA -- Comcast Corp. will become the first major cable TV operator to roll out wireless broadband outside of Wi-Fi hotspots as it launches the service in four major U.S. cities this year. Comcast will offer speeds of up to 4 megabits per ...  ...