Vonage VoIP Forum - VoIP, Satellite Companies Join On Remote-Area Phone Service

VoIP, Satellite Companies Join On Remote-Area Phone Service

October 15, 2003

By W. David Gardner

VoIP providers have been eyeing satellite links as a potential delivery vehicle for their voice offerings, but not much has happened. Until this week, that is when two VoIP companies -- Vonage Holdings and Net2Phone announced moves into the area.

Vonage is teaming up with SkyFrames to deliver its service to a small number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, while Net2Phone is joining with Hughes Electronics to offer its satellite VoIP service with Africa as the initial target region.

“There's definitely a marketplace there,” said Vonage's executive vice president of product development. “It's a good way to provide phone service in rural areas. Satellite communications have improved in recent years.”

In Iraq, Vonage and SkyFrames are initially setting up 10 to 20 connections for use by U.S. troops free-of-charge, the companies said. Scheduled to get underway by Thanksgiving, the U.S. Army will install the first connections in Baghdad.

Vonage has refined its satellite system through its partnership with Inet Guyana Communications. Holder said the satellite VoIP system has been in use for about 18 months and Vonage used the experience to iron out some problems that have plagued satellite voice technology in the past.

He added that voice delay -- a problem for many satellite voice systems in the past -- has been virtually eliminated by introducing advanced voice compression techniques. “It started as a trial service in Guyana,” said Holder, “but now it's a full deployment of satellite-VoIP service.”

Meanwhile, Net2Phone Global Service President Bryan Wiener used the ITU Telecom World 2003 show in Geneva as a setting to announce his firm's collaboration with satellite provider Hughes Electronics. The Net2Phone-Hughes operation will initially target Africa. Said Wiener: “VoIP is really helping to expand telephone services overseas.”