VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is quickly emerging as one of the dominant trends in telecommunications this year.

So what exactly is VoIP? Forget the technical jargon and think ’phone over the Internet’ A pretty simple concept really. VoIP transforms a high-speed Internet connection into a phone line, converting your analog voice into a digital signal that can be transmitted over the Internet.

While you can’t use VoIP with dial-up Internet service, it works with most types of access including DSL, DSL Lite and cable modem. As well, VoIP offered through a company like Primus Canada also works with most wireless service providers including Bell Sympatico, Rogers Cable and Shaw to name a few.

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A judge has sentenced the former chief economic officer of Accutel Communications to 236 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release, plus $7.6 million in restitution and $6,800 as a special assessment.

U. S. District Court Judge James Cohn also ordered Arne Soreide to forefit $7.5 million in criminal proceeds, including the defendant’s Boca Raton waterfront residence.

The defendant has been in custody since July 6, , the date of his conviction on all 68 counts of an indictment.

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UPC Rolls Out Cable VoIP in European Markets

European cable operator UPC announced its planned launch of IP telephone services in The Netherlands this month, following the earlier debut of the service in Hungary. UPC’s Dutch VoIP plans call for a full rollout to its 2.4 million customers after an initial launch in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. UPC says its basic IP phone service will cost almost 50% less than the basic price of Dutch incumbent KPN, while per-minute tariffs will be 10%-15% cheaper. In the future, UPC says it will offer complementary fax-to-email, voicemail-to-email and conference calling services.

Concurrently, on October 1, UPC is increasing its fastest chello Internet product speed to 8 Mbps downstream. UPC will also start a market trial in October of a 30-Mbps downstream Internet product in the Dutch city of Almere, to be followed by commercial deployment soon thereafter. A separate market trial with a 50-Mbps product is envisaged for Amsterdam in the coming months.

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