anyone follow?, page-5

voip2+ the turnaround :-) Great to be one step ahead of the pack 

Interesting article about the future of VOIP aswell.

(Why wasn’t this an ASX release???)

Netcomm launches its first ADSL2+ compatible modems with NB5 series
SYDNEY June 15th 2005 - Leading Australian broadband hardware vendor Netcomm today announced the release of two extra models to enhance its flagship NB5 modem router series – the NB5Plus4 and NB5Plus4W.
These models represent the first ADSL2+ compatible modem routers for the Australian company and are designed to cover a wide range of user requirements.
“The NB5Plus4 and Plus4W represent the next leap in broadband modem technology with many Australian Internet Service Providers [ISP’s] starting to roll-out ADSL2/2+ services to their customers,” said Netcomm Managing Director David Stewart.
“With many houses having more than one computer the NB5Plus4 can easily share these faster Internet services. Also, many computer users are going wireless so we built the NB5Plus4W with an 11g [54Mbps] Wireless Access Point so it can distribute Internet services to both wired and wireless users alike.”
The new models also incorporate an in-built router with the following features:
• Triple layer firewall security – Network Address Translation, Stateful Packet Inspection and Denial of Service protection – essential in today’s Internet environment
• Both models feature a USB port and 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch which can be used simultaneously (the NB5Plus4W also includes a 54Mbps Wireless Access Point)
• Support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
• Quality of Service (Qos) function that allows the user to allocate priority on certain types of data – e.g. voice packets which makes these NB5 models ideal for use with Voice over IP (VoIP)
• Click here for core product features
“NetComm are making strides with our new VoIP technology and these new models are designed to complement our VoIP initiatives,” said Mr Stewart.
“Consumers trying VoIP for the first time will have an expectation that it is as good as their normal phone service and the QoS function in these models will ensure that the quality of the voice conversation is on par.”
Future production of the current NB5 modem router (USB/Single port Ethernet) will be stepped up to also make it ADSL2+ compatible out of the box.
“The key benefit for users of the NB5 series is that it will ensure immediate connectivity to the new ADSL standards. Many of the current ADSL modems on the market cannot be upgraded to ADSL2 or 2+, which means users will need to purchase a replacement model to take advantage of speed gains.”
“The NB5 series will ensure that NetComm users are future-protected.”

Understanding the new ADSL standards
• ADSL2 is an enhancement to the current ADSL(1) standard which can allow users to download at speeds up to 12Mega bits per second (Mbps). ADSL1 can currently download at speeds up to 8Mbps.
• The ADSL2 standard also increases the coverage range by about an extra 200 metres down the phone line – this means that many homes that are currently out of range of ADSL1 coverage will fall into the coverage zone of ADSL2.
• ADSL2+ is an enhancement to ADSL2 (recognised as another standard) which doubles the bandwidth frequency (1.1Mhz to 2.2Mhz) to allow download speeds up to 24Mbps. Selected ISP’s have already released ADSL2+ services to their subscribers but latest industry discussion points to wide-spread rollout of this standard in late-2005/early 2006.


Talk is cheap
Friday, 3 June 2005
• Printer format
Making net calls via a home phone has never been easier, writes Lia Timson.
You know something is beginning to hot up in telephony when service providers start dropping their prices. One internet phone company, engin (www.engin.com.au), recently halved its national call rates to five cents a minute on its Voice Box products. Others are expected to follow.
Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) has come a long way since free services such as Skype (www.skype.com) were introduced in 2003. Then they catered only for users who spoke to their friends via their PCs with the help of an external microphone or headset and peer-to-peer software.
The calls were free but the process was fraught with the risks associated with peer-to-peer networks. Internet phone-to-phone deployments later became the domain of large corporations with their own private networks.
Now making internet calls is as simple as picking up your house phone. Voice quality can be nearly as good but you will need a reliable broadband connection, a VoIP adaptor and perhaps a router to turn your normal phone into an internet phone.
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Although VoIP users are few compared with the millions of mobile and landline customers of traditional telcos, internet phone providers say their efforts are starting to pay dividends.
Engin claims 4000 paid subscribers in the nine months since launch, while MyFone (www.myfone.com.au) says it sold 8000 units in four months. Engin's chief executive, Ilkka Tales, believes it will have 30,000 customers by June next year, the number required to break even. "Telstra still has the lion's share of [private] customers. But it is still new technology," Tales says.
MyFone product manager Anthony Wai says his company, which also owns MyFoneCard, is busy signing up 100 new customers a week. And with broadband penetration estimated to reach 50 per cent of all Australian households by 2009, according to forecaster IDC, it's certain more providers will appear.
Telstra and Optus have confirmed they will launch consumer VoIP products soon. Meanwhile, Optus has lowered its normal call rates to nine cents a minute to popular overseas destinations to counter competition from VoIP and phone-card providers (which incidentally use VoIP gateways to route cheap calls).
Industry analyst Paul Budde says the market is maturing. "Some companies are growing above the level of amateurs and hobbyists and will begin to make inroads. By the middle of next year, I expect Telstra will introduce a consumer version [of VoIP]," he says.
Tales says VoIP is attractive because it provides handset convenience combined with cheap, but good quality, calls - a fact some call recipients contest.
Before ditching your home line for a no-PC-needed VoIP service, consider the costs.
You will need special hardware to connect an analogue or digital phone to your broadband modem (this plug-and-play "box" converts voice signals into data packets for transmission). Engin and MyFone (MyNetPhone hardware by NetComm) sell them through electronics retailers from $149.