AD C <graphi47uk@y.a.h.o.o.co.uk> wrote:
[...]
> Satellite hyas too much of a delay and most of the time it is only
> one way, so you still need a phone line to transmitt the data.

Only if the satellite is in geostationary orbit. Iridium uses a large
number of near-earth satellites some 450 miles above the Earth. The
back of a fagpacket calculation suggests that this contributes a delay
of just 4ms.

[...]
> skype is easy to use and do not require any other hardware, I did
> not see Barain buddy or Ezula with Skype.

My main objection to Skype is that it *does* require hardware - a PC.
Leaving that running 24/7 so you can receive calls will cost you 60
quid a year or so just in electricity. So much for it being free.

My SPA-2000 doesn't use anything like that much juice, allows me to
leave my desk (with the handy addition of a cheap DECT phone) and
isn't a magnet for every worm and virus out there.

I do have a Skype account, but find that call quality isn't very good,
because people are using lash-ups of PC speakers and cheap
omnidirectional mics instadl of properly-designed telephone handsets.
What usually seems to happen is that initial contact will be made over
Skype, and then the call switched to PSTN when the drop-outs or echo
get too irritating.

[...]
> Only minority of the public will bother with VOIP.

The usual test as to whether technology has gone mainstream is when my
mostly computer-ignorant 60 year old mother starts asking me about it.
She doesn't have a computer or broadband, but it seems that quite a
few relatives are now using VoIP-to-PSTN gateways to call her from all
over the world.

That it doesn't sound naff suggests that it's something other than
Skype :)

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