QSC, a provider of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) service
to both homes and enterprises, will roll out a VoIP service on 1
December.
The QSC service, called IPfonie, will allow customers to make
calls for free within the company's network. Calls made to other
fixed-line networks will cost €0.025 per minute during business
hours and €0.015 at other times. Calls made to mobile networks will
cost €0.189 per minute.
Users of the IPfonie service must pay a minium €49.90 a month
for QSC's flat-rate DSL service, in addition to a €4.99 monthly
charge for the IPfonie service and a one-time installation fee of
€9.99.
Unlike fixed-line telephone systems, IPfonie requires users to
keep their PCs running to accept calls around the clock. This
requirement could add a few extra euros to the bill.
However, the company claimed that IPfonie users would spend less
than customers of Deutsche Telekom.
The German carrier charges around €24 for a monthly phone line,
in addition to about €13 a month for a DSL line and a monthly €30
flat-rate for DSL service.
Per-minute call fees can range from €0.06 to €0.122, depending
time of day and distance, for an analogue connection and €0.06 to
€0.091 for a digital connection.
IPfonie customers will receive their own phone number, which
callers can reach from all national and international fixed-line
and mobile networks. Additional phone services, such as caller
identification, call waiting and conference calls are also
available.
IPfonie software supports both Microsoft's Windows and the
open-source Linux operating systems.
In addition to offering residential customers high-speed
connectivity based on ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line)
technology, QSC provides businesses with a SDSL (Symmetric Digital
Subscriber Line) service that can support speeds up to 2.3Mbps for
both uploading and downloading information.
Internet telephony is fast becoming a popular service in the
small and medium-sized business market.
Earlier in the week, Richard Notebaert, chairman and chief
executive officer of US phone company Qwest Communications
International said the US phone company will roll out VoIP service
to the mass market in Minnesota.
Australian network operator SingTel Optus announced a scalable
VoIP service for its SMB customers, while BellSouth last week
unveiled a package of net telephony services for small and midsized
customers.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service