Intel And Yahoo Unites Internet With Television

Intel Corporation and Yahoo! Inc. previewed plans for the Widget Channel, a television (TV) application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics (CE) devices that use the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favorite TV programs. The Widget Channel will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform that will enable TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of “TV Widgets,” or small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control. The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use JAVASCRIPT, XML, HTML and Adobe® Flash® technology to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV and related CE devices. In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that are customized based on its category-leading Internet services.

TV Widgets will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences, such as watching videos, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information. Viewers will be able to use TV Widgets to deepen their enjoyment of the programming they are watching, discover new content and services, or share their favorites with friends and family. TV Widgets can be personalized because they will be based upon popular Internet services such as Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, Blockbuster® and eBay® that viewers have customized for use in their daily lives.

"TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine and experience the Internet," said Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company's Digital Home Group. "No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and Internet are as interactive, and seamless, as possible. Our close work has produced an exciting application framework upon which the industry can collaborate, innovate and differentiate. This effort is one of what we believe will be many exciting new ways to bring the Internet to the TV, and it really shows the potential of what consumers can look forward to."

"On the PC and mobile devices, Yahoo! is a leading starting point for millions of consumers around the world," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! Inc. "Yahoo! aims to extend this leadership to the emerging world of Internet-connected TV, which we call the Cinematic Internet™. By partnering with leaders like Intel, we plan to combine the Internet benefits of open user choice, community, and personalization with the performance and scale embodied in the Intel Architecture to transform traditional TV into something bigger, better and more exciting than ever before. By using the popular Yahoo! Widget Engine to power the Widget Channel, we intend to provide an opportunity for all developers and publishers to create new experiences that can reach millions of TV viewers globally. Yahoo! plans to enable the Cinematic Internet™ ecosystem, which will benefit consumers, device makers, advertisers and publishers."

Widget Channel Framework and TV Widget Developers

Underlying the Widget Channel will be a powerful set of platform technologies, including the Yahoo! Widget Engine and core libraries that expose the powerful functions enabled by the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel framework will use established Internet technologies to dramatically lower the barrier of entry for developing applications optimized for TV. To help create new TV Widgets for the Widget Channel, Intel and Yahoo! plan to make a development kit available to developers, including TV and other CE device makers, advertisers and publishers. The Widget Channel will also include a Widget Gallery, to which developers can publish their TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices and through which consumers can view and select the TV Widgets they would like to use.

Intel and Yahoo! are working with a range of industry-leading companies that are planning on developing and deploying TV Widgets, including Blockbuster*, CBS Interactive*, CinemaNow*, Cinequest*, Comcast*, Disney-ABC Television Group*, eBay*, GE*, Group M*, Joost*, MTV*, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.*, Schematic*, Showtime*, Toshiba* and Twitter*. These and other companies and individuals will be able to innovate, differentiate and deploy TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices using the Widget Channel framework. Additional information on the Widget Channel framework and the Yahoo! Widget Engine can be found at www.intel.com/go/celink and connectedtv.yahoo.com/newsroom.

Intel Architecture

Intel Architecture (IA) is at the heart of millions of PC-, MID- and server-based Internet clients, which has helped enable the proliferation of Internet-based content and services while providing users with an uncompromised Internet experience. Accelerating the delivery of the Internet to the TV, Intel today extended performance, headroom and connectivity of IA into a new family of "purpose built" system-on-chip (SoC) media processors for Internet-connected CE devices, including optical media players, U.S. cable set-top-boxes, digital TVs and other connected audio visual products.

Intel's first CE IA-based SoC, the Intel® Media Processor CE 3100 (formerly "Canmore"), is a highly integrated chip which includes a high-performance IA core and other functional I/O blocks to enable high definition video decode and viewing, home-theater-quality audio, 3-D graphics, and the fusion of the Internet and TV experiences. The Widget Channel software framework is designed to work with a new generation of Internet-connected CE devices based on Intel's purpose built SoC. The hardware and software compatibility of IA also provides support for broadcast and Internet content.

Intel also plans to release the Intel Media Processor CE 3100-based hardware development system called the "Innovation Platform" which will provide the initial development and validation environment for developers of TV Widgets on the Widget Channel.

An Open Framework

Finally, Intel and Yahoo! are working with industry members to promote the development of open and consistent standards necessary to grow the TV Widget ecosystem. As part of their efforts, the companies are sharing an early version of a development kit for the Widget Channel with selected TV Widget developers now.

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The Basics of IPTV" by Howard J. Gunn

OVERVIEW
The purpose of The Basics of IPTV is to increase understanding of the technical, economic, and business model differences that are evolving for the delivery of rich media such as video, audio, and graphics—specifically consumer television services on private IP data networks of the near future. It likewise describes alternative scenarios that might develop during the global IPTV deployment and how it could affect consumer behavior.

IPTV is the only broadband killer application with enough demand and an average revenue per unit (ARPU) stream to cost justify the deployment of a massive new broadband carrier service cloud. The new IP video–enabled carrier cloud consists of multiple FTTX plans, alternative broadband wireless plans, and a hope that the new investment can stem the losses of wireline subscribers while creating a cost-effective replacement network for the current narrowband SONET infrastructure and costly data service overlays of today.

In the marketing realm, there is a growing need to both mature and refine franchise granting rights, consumer take-up rates, price performance curves, and profit margins. The current Internet problems of network neutrality, toll booth charging, security, firewall protection, intrusion detection, spam, viruses, and Trojan issues will soon be joined by digital rights management, digital asset management, and identity management concerns flowing from the new availability of digital TV content and peer-to-peer (P2P) communications.

The Basics of IPTV will bring these issues into the light and describe alternative scenarios that might develop after the initial deployment of IPTV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

About the Publisher

Appendix: Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms

Preface

Introduction: Fundamentals of IPTV

Chapter One: What is IPTV and Why All the Fuss?

· The IPTV Infrastructure Overview

· The Current Data Infrastructure

· Commercial Realities

Chapter Two: Network Technology: The Cost of Service Delivery

· Current Slotted Infrastructure Background

· The Current Data Overlay Infrastructure

· The IPTV Broadband Infrastructure Alternative

· Implementing Digital Video Is Not for the Faint Hearted

· Video Infrastructure Economics

Chapter Three: The IPTV Data Access Network Economics

· The evolving access infrastructure for IPTV

· Traditional Service Pricing and Take Rate Volume ConceptsMarket Pricing Implications

· Public Utility versus Competitive Markets

Chapter Four: The Regulated Infrastructure

· Background on the Infrastructure and Regulations

· The Service Infrastructure of Today

· Why Consider Developing a New IPTV Infrastructure?

· The Replacement Market Rationale

· IPTV Egress Issues – Connection to TVs and PCs

· Home Wiring and the Inside Mile

· IPTV – Ingress Issue - Multiple Service Convergence

· Other IPTV Issues – Consumer Quality and Quality of Experience

· The Relationship of Bandwidth, Broadband, and IPTV Bits

Chapter Five: The Strategic Pieces of Modern Broadband

· Current IP Activities under Way

· New IPTV Deployment Program in the U.S.

· MSO the Current Slotted TV (Non–IP) Processes

· Super Head End, the IPTV Alternative to MSO Consolidation

· The New IP LHE

· Fiber Access Strategic Implications

· How Fast Does the IPTV Backbone and Access Need to Be?

Chapter Six: The IPTV Network Access Evolution

· Fixed Point Wireless (FPW) Access

· The Subscriber Site

· Key Subscriber Issues

Chapter Seven: Broadband IPTV: Replacement Market Issues

· Unique Broadband Access Market Risks

· Technology Adoption Process (TAP) Risk

Chapter Eight: How IPTV Enables Converged Broadband

· Government Involvement

· Consumer Market

· Service-Oriented Architecture and Installed Base Upgrading

· The Evolving SOA Environment

· Content Availability, Upgrades, and Broadband Endpoints

· Facility Upgrades and Risks

· Advertising Business Model

Chapter Nine: Enabling TCP/IP to IPTV and Web TV

· Use of TCP/IP for Video Services

· Transmission Control Protocol and IPTV Media Gateway

· IPTV, TCP/IP, and the Evolution to IPv6

Chapter Ten: Networking Network TV and Closed Circuit TV

· Commercial Justification for Digital

· The Value of Future Two-Way Interactive Programming

· Why Digital TV

· Multiple DTV Format Issues Will Not Go Away

· Broadband and Bandwidth Impact on Internet

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Howard J. Gunn is director of marketing and sales at WorldView Network Services in Dallas, Texas. He is also a member of the American Mensa Society, the Society of Industrial Leaders, and the Gerson Lehrman Group Council and serves as the supply chain director for the National RFID Institute. He is also a representative of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and is NASD 6 and 63 licensed.

Mr. Gunn authored Principle of Traffic and Network Design and has had numerous articles published in business and trade press magazines. His most recent article, “Peering into our Future,” was published in the IEC's Annual Review of Communications, vol. 58. The article forms the basis for his new MegaPortal services partnership with Digistream Technologies LLC for securing content, streaming rich media, and retailing entertainment over a personal information network. In this new Web TV and digital entertainment market, Digistream is the first to market with 100 megabit e-commerce retailing of high-value content and commercialization of personal two-way interactive MegaPortal peering services for mobile consumers, small businesses, and retailers.

Mr. Gunn began his communications and information services career as a telephone craftsman and progressed through management positions in traffic engineering, equipment engineering, capital budgeting, accounting, data processing, information technology, and carrier service operations. At the onset of the Internet revolution, he shifted his career path toward new information technology development and product marketing. In this high-tech path, Mr. Gunn held key executive and general positions in product line management, new product marketing, and sales, having served as the vice president of marketing, product management, and corporate strategy at Alcatel and GM Gandalf Technologies, vice president of sales at GTE Automatic Electric, director of net technologies at NEC America, and vice president of sales and marketing at Terabridge Technologies.

Grab A Copy Of "The Basics of IPTV" by Howard J. Gunn

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Regulatory Law To Put An End To Internet In India

There is a clear and present danger to internet in India. If the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee were to go through, you might as well pull the shutters down on the net in the country, because the committee seeks to raise the liability of internet service providers for any third party content in a manner that it will become difficult to run the service and stay away from jail.

This isn't an exaggeration. Over 85% of internet deals with third party content. This includes search engines, mail services, messengers, blogs, communication and community sites. If they were to be held responsible for the sites searched, mails sent, blogs filed or scraps on community sites then service providers would be hauled up by the police for acts they are not even faintly responsible for.

Why, then, is the committee proposing this insanity? The answer is simple — the committee has failed to understand the internet. Frankly, there's no difference between the phone and the postal service and the net — it's just that one delivers voice or post and the other data. Both deal with third party content which is impossible to verify.

How would a mail service know, for instance, if two friends exchange copyright material? Or, how would a search engine track if someone accesses sites spreading hatred, or worse, promoting terror? It's all out there — the responsibility of who fetches what should be that of the individual, not the service provider. Therefore, what the standing committee is seeking to do is something like making a postal service responsible for every mischievous mail it delivers — perhaps by a drug dealer giving details of a consignment or a student sending photocopies of a book and hence infringing on copyright. Or, something like making a phone service, such as MTNL or BSNL, responsible for every bit of dirty talk or criminal conspiracy over its wires.

Perhaps the committee is confusing internet with media like TV or print. In the latter, content is either self-generated or by designated news or TV agencies. The content goes through several layers of vetting and checks. This is not true of internet sites that provide mail service, aggregation of communities, picture sharing, etc. This is possibly why in its report last month on the Information Technology (Amendment) Bill 2006, the committee headed by Congress MP Nikhil Kumar has called upon the government to abandon the proposal to reduce the liability of service providers or intermediaries in the wake of industry outrage over the 2004 arrest of Baazee.com's CEO for the auction of a CD containing an infamous student porn MMS.

The bone of contention is Section 79 of the IT Act 2000 which says that no service provider shall be liable for any third party information if he proves that the offence was committed "without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence" to prevent the commission of such contravention.

Since the existing safeguard failed to save Baazee.com CEO Avnish Bajaj from being subjected to the ignominy of arrest and detention, the government sought to reduce the liability further in its 2006 Bill. The Bill raises the bar for taking action against ISPs by stipulating that they are not liable unless it is proved that they have conspired or abetted in the commission of the unlawful act.

T his is really how the law is in both Europe and in the US. To the industry here, the proposed amendment seemed a fair safeguard. But the standing committee, far from endorsing the change, has recommended that the existing Section 79 should be strengthened by casting "a definite obligation" on the service providers to ensure that the third party information was within the parameters of the law especially because "it is very difficult to establish conspiracy or abetment" on their part.

The committee also took objection to the Bill's proposal to relieve the service providers of the burden of demonstrating that they had exercised due diligence to prevent the third parties from misusing online market places and auction sites. "The committee are of the firm opinion that if explicit provisions about blocking of objectionable material through various means are not codified, expecting self-regulation from the intermediaries, who basically work for commercial gains (sic), will just remain a pipedream," it said.

For all its efforts to make out a case for increasing the liability of service providers, the committee glossed over the fact that the Bill was in tune with the approach adopted by advanced countries that have given sufficient thought before framing their Internet laws. Take, for instance, the relevant law in the European Union. It says that a service provider storing third party information is liable to criminal action only when he "by intent is storing illegal information or assisting in illegal activities."

What is even more contrary to the committee's report is the express clarification in the European law that its provisions "do not impose a general obligation on service providers to monitor the information, which they transmit, or store on the request of a recipient for the service, nor a general obligation to seek facts or circumstances indicating illegal activities." Similarly, in the US, both courts and legislation broadly seek to reduce the liability of service providers on charges such as copyright infringement and defamation.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, for instance, spells out the criteria for establishing liability and makes it difficult to sue service providers vicariously for copyright infringement committed by third parties. So, which way should Indian laws go? The way the advanced countries have gone, or in accordance with the wishes of some misinformed MPs that would spell the death of Internet in India?

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Naked DSL, Freedom From Added Cost Of Landline

Asher Moses

A number of Australian ADSL broadband providers are gearing up to launch "naked DSL" plans, enabling users to for the first time bypass costly line rental charges.

iiNet's plans are scheduled to launch in November, while Engin's will debut during the first quarter of next year. TPG and Internode have also indicated they will unveil naked DSL plans in the near future.

Today, those looking for an internet connection without the added cost of a landline are for the most part limited to either cable, which has limited coverage, or slower wireless broadband.

The naked DSL plans will be marginally more expensive than current DSL offerings, but the added cost will be outstripped by the fact that the user can forego paying between $20-$30 a month in line rental fees.

"Consumers will save money doing this but they won't save an amount of money equivalent to 100 per cent of their line rental," said Internode CEO Simon Hackett.

Further, some providers such as iiNet, Internode and Engin will offer naked DSL plans bundled with voice over IP (VoIP) packages, so customers can make their regular phone calls via the internet. VoIP calls are significantly cheaper than regular landline rates.

"You will save money on the combined broadband and line rental, and save further money on the phone calls," said iiNet chief operating officer Mark White.

Telstra, which makes a significant portion of its revenue selling fixed line services, has effectively blocked residential naked DSL plans from being offered in Australia earlier, said independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde.

He said because Telstra owns the copper infrastructure and wholesales it to its competitors, the telco could previously set prices that were so high they made residential naked DSL services unviable. But a decision by the competition regulator late last year meant Telstra was forced into lowering its access prices.

"What we're seeing is there are an increasing number of people that have a mobile phone and use the mobile phone and don't need the fixed phone, but they of course do need access to broadband, and this [naked DSL], for example, allows them to buy a broadband connection without having the need to buy a telephone connection," Mr Budde said.

Mr White said iiNet was in the process of conducting naked DSL trials and would launch its services in November.

He said the entry level 4GB plan will cost $44.95, around $5 more than the ISP's equivalent regular ADSL plans.

Mr Hackett said a launch date for Internode's naked DSL plans was still to be determined but "our current rational estimate is Q1 next year".

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The Challenges Of Being On the Internet In Cuba

When 32-year-old Yoani Sanchez wants to update her blog about daily life in Cuba, she dresses like a tourist and strides confidently into a Havana hotel, greeting the staff in German.

That is because Cubans like Sanchez are not authorised to use hotel internet connections, which are reserved for foreigners.

In a recent posting on Generacion Y Sanchez wrote about the abundance of police patrolling the streets of Havana, checking documents and searching bags for black-market merchandise.

She and a handful of other independent bloggers are opening up a crack in the government's tight control over media and information to give the rest of the world a glimpse of life in a one-party, Communist state.

"We are taking advantage of an unregulated area. They can't control cyberspace out there," she said.

But they face many difficulties.

Once inside the hotel, Sanchez has to write fast. Not because she fears getting caught, but because online access is prohibitively expensive. An hour online costs about $US6, the equivalent of two weeks' pay for the average Cuban.

Independent bloggers like Sanchez have to build their sites on servers outside Cuba, and they have more readers outside Cuba than inside.

That's not surprising, since only 200,000 Cubans, or less than 2 per cent of the population, have access to the world wide web, the lowest rate in Latin America, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

Only government employees, academics and researchers are allowed their own internet accounts, which are provided by the government.

Regular Cubans are allowed only to open email accounts that they can access through terminals at post offices, where they can also see Cuban websites, but access to the rest of the World Wide Web is blocked.

Scarce as toilet paper

For Cuba's freelance bloggers, the difficulties in getting online can mean days, weeks and even months between one post and the next.

"My access to internet is very irregular," said the anonymous author of a blog called My island at midday.

"Like all things in Cuba, one has to resolve the problem of scarcity by hook or by crook, be it internet or toilet paper," he told Reuters by email.

The Cuban government blames the limited internet access on the US sanctions that bar Cuba from hooking up to underwater fibre-optic cables that run just 12 miles offshore, a highway of broadband communication. Instead Cuba must use expensive satellite uplinks to connect to the internet via countries such as Canada, Chile and Brazil.

Critics say that is just a pretext to maintain control over the internet, a powerful tool that some believe could play the same role in spreading information in Cuba as the fax machine played in the dismantling of the Soviet Union.

Cuba has already had a taste of openness since ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro handed over power last year to his brother Raul, who has encouraged debate at all levels of Cuban society on Cuba's unproductive economy.

But the reaction to television programs in December that honoured notorious censors from the early 1970s - when Cuba adopted Soviet policies and cracked down on writers, artists and homosexuals - showed the potential of the internet to effect change.

There was such a flood of emails from Cuban intellectuals and academics and others with internet access that the government was obliged to meet with them and issue an apology for the program.

Pro-government blogs

Dozens of government supporters, mainly state-employed journalists with internet accounts, have blogs. But most of them avoid commenting on the travails of daily life in Cuba and stick to the official line.

Many reproduce columns that Fidel Castro has written from his sickbed, along with criticism of Cuba's ideological arch-enemy the United States taken from the state-run press.

One exception is Luis Sexto, a columnist for the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, who recently posted a blistering attack on state bureaucracy.

"Without public criticism, mistakes will continue to hurt our country," Sexto wrote last month.

Others prefer to avoid politics and discuss cinema and literature, or nostalgia for the Soviet cartoons Cubans were brought up on.

But Cuba's independent bloggers take a very different line, and prefer to remain anonymous or use pseudonyms in order to protect themselves.

A blogger who goes by the name of "Tension Lia" posts photographs of the ruinous state of Havana's architectural treasures on blog called Havanascity.

The creator of "My island at midday" told Reuters by email that the anonymity of the blog has allowed him to say some things that nobody has dared write about.

"Dissent has always been frowned upon. Intolerance is still the rule in Cuba, even though Cuban society is starting to adapt to diversity of opinions.

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16-Years-Old Schoolboy Cracks Australian Government $84 Million Internet Porn Filter

A 16-year-old schoolboy has cracked the federal government's $84-million internet porn filter.

Tom Wood, a Year 10 student, told News Ltd newspapers it took him about 30 minutes to break through the government's new filter, released on Tuesday.

Tom, who attends a Melbourne private school, can deactivate the filter after several clicks.

His method ensures the software's toolbar icon is not deleted.

He can leave his parents believing the filter is still working.

Tom, a former cyber bullying victim, fears a computer-savvy child could put the bypass on the internet for others to use.

"It's a horrible waste of money," he said. "They could get a much better filter for a few million dollars made here rather than paying overseas companies for an ineffective one."

Communications Minister Helen Coonan said the government had anticipated children would find ways to get around the NetAlert filters.

Suppliers were contracted to provided updates, Senator Coonan said.

"The vendor is investigating the matter as a priority.

"Unfortunately, no single measure can protect children from online harm and ... traditional parenting skills have never been more important."

Family First senator Steve Fielding, a cyber safety campaigner, said cracking the software highlighted the need for compulsory filtering by internet providers.

"You need both. You need it at the ISP and at the PC level," Senator Fielding said. "The Government has not listened to common sense and it leaves kids exposed."

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Aussie Government Provides Free internet filters online

Free internet filtering programs are now available on the internet, Federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan said.
The software is designed to block black-listed material and material parents deem unsuitable for their children.
Parents and carers can get access to free internet content filters and advice about managing online safety by visiting the website www.australia.gov.au/netalert or telephoning 1800 880 176.
"Today's launch of practical measures ensures that Australian families can reap the benefits of the online world but at the same time be armed with the information and tools they need to limit the very serious risks the internet can pose to children and vulnerable young people," Senator Coonan said in a statement.
Labor communications spokesman Stephen Conroy welcomed the government's decision to make internet filters available but said there were more effective ways to protect children from inappropriate online material.
Senator Conroy said internet service providers (ISPs) should filter material which had been identified as prohibited by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
"Under Labor's ISP filtering policy Australian internet users will be prevented from accessing content that has been identified as prohibited by ACMA, including violent and pornographic sites," he said.

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Avoid Cunning VOIP Service Providers

You can find offers for VOIP service all over the place. You get them in various monthly bills, you see them scattered all over at Best Buy and Circuit City, and your DSL or cable provider is probably offering it to you as well. How to choose which one is best?

The answer to this is that the one that is most convenient to purchase is RARELY going to be your most cost effective option. People like "easy", but at the same time, "easy" costs more money than you need to be spending. Let's look at some examples.

With my cable bill every month, the cable carrier includes a flyer about how great their VOIP service is and offer me a gazillion reasons I should sign up for it. Oh really? What they offer for $39.95 per month is less than what I would get from Packet8 VOIP service or SunRocket VOIP service, yet they want me to pay $15 more each month for getting less. But I have the convenience of ordering through my cable provider, and the convenience of having my VOIP bill on the same invoice as my cable bill. While I like convenience, is paying $15 more per month, or $180 more each year, really worth it, especially when I am getting LESS service than I would for less money with VOIP options? I don't think so.

What about Vonage, with their huge TV advertising budget, and offers all over the place, is Vonage a good deal? In my own use of the Vonage VOIP system, I am not impressed. There are more features to be found for the same or less money with other VOIP services, and the quality of the Vonage connection was not as good as even my cell phone. That is my personal experience and your mileage may vary, but I am just reporting what I have found.

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VOIP Tricks You Cant Wait To Try

The really nice thing about VOIP is that it is a service that you can take with you when you travel. For example, most hotels now have high-speed Internet service, and if you take your VOIP phone with you, you can plug in at the hotel and continue to make and receive calls at your regular phone number as if you had never left home. Keep in mind that if the hotel offers ONLY a wireless Internet connection, as many of them do as your only option, this presents another problem and you will need additional hardware to convert that wireless signal into an RJ45 jack that you can plug your VOIP DTA box into.

I know of one business person who does not leave home without his VOIP phone, it is always one of the first things that gets packed. So when he gets to his hotel in Chicago or New York or Denver or even Germany or Hong Kong, he plugs in his VOIP phone and is back to work. While it may seem strange to have a VOIP phone plugged into your Hong Kong hotel room, and have people call you on it by dialing an Orlando phone number (if you live in Orlando), that is how VOIP works and it really is nice.

Another thing you can do is say you have relatives in Europe or the UK that you like to talk to but it is prohibitively expensive to call overseas very often. To solve this problem, what you should do is get a VOIP phone for you, and have them get a VOIP phone from the same provider. Now even though they are living in London or Munich, they will have a Detroit or Houston phone number. They can call you and talk as long as you want, or you can call them on their assigned phone number (which might appear to be Detroit or Denver) and talk as long as you want. The only thing they need is that high-speed Internet connection, and of course an electrical adapter to accommodate the different voltages overseas.

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