Need to know the contractual terms for the incoming calls. They may NOT be free.

BTL does get paid for incoming international calls, roughly $.28/min minus any carrier's mark up. The point is when we use a VoIP phone to receive incoming international calls to a US#, BTL doesn't get paid. And they shouldn't, VoIP is a data service, and we all pay for our DSL data dearly.

The more intensive your DATA requirements become, the higher the service you will get from BTL. The DSL service is the source of revenue and taxes, BTL/PUC have just gotten greedy... and are trying to confuse you.

If we accept the PUC's ruling as law it seems BTL is now operating illegally. Will the law be enforced?

First off the PUC ruling is not law, it is a sugestion. PUC has yet to enforce a ruling on any subject, only make suggestions.

The part of this that can be enforced is the granting of new licensing to operate ISPs w/ competitive VoIP services. I would not hold your breath of any type of concessions from BTL. But I would expect that in the next 6-18mo we see a competitive ISP, combining wireless and cable connections, offering a VoIP product similar to Vonage. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, users have already started to "secure" their own Skype/PCPhone/Softphone traffic. Check it out:

http://bfic.wordpress.com/2006/06/27/when-the-going-gets-tough-encrypt/

Happy Calling...

As I understand it though, all ISPs in Belize route through BTL. Is that not correct?

DaBunk, you are correct. BTL has exclusive rights to the physical ARCOS landing station that brings all of Belize's wireline connectivity (I believe it is located in Ladyville). Group X is planning to change that bringing in an alternative carrier's connections (hint: not via the Caribbean Sea).

What the PUC could do is create a policy and support legislation that would free up access to that landing station, it would save a bunch of time and energy. If that were granted, any competitive provider could purchase undersea capacity and furthermore cheap IP bandwidth from the states (via MIA).

The following is a copy of an email and reply that I recieved from the President of WiFi Consulting regarding the ability to overcome blocking of VOIP's

To: support@HotSpotVPN.com
Subject: Skype

"I have a condo on Abergris Caye, Belize. I have wired in DSL service.
I use Skype (VOIP) for communicating with the US while in Belize. More
frequently than not, Belize Telephone Limited who's lines are used for
the internet connection, blocks Skype & other similar VOIP's. Will your
program alleviate the problem & if so, which one of your programs would
you recommend. I have Windows XP."
Thanks,
Al Kruebbe
Peninsula Mortgage, Inc.

His Reply:
Yes it works. We have a lot of customers using the service just this
way. I actually did some tech support with a customer in China (I'm in
Washington DC) and it sounded suprisingly good. The best sounding
solution is to use a computer with a USB headset and then use
hotspotVPN2, change the default hsvpn2 config from tcp to udp for better
sound quality. It also allows you to take advantage of Skype's free
calls to the US and Canada for the rest of the year even though Skype is
limiting this to Skype calls that originate in the US.

Thank you.

GT


_____

Secure Wireless Networking Now

Glynn Taylor

President

It sounds good to me. I'm going to try it when we get back down in September. Only around $8.00 per month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice work Al,

Here is a another breakdown of VPN services that we should be trying, HotspotVPN is one of them:

http://bfic.wordpress.com/2006/07/15/encryption-services-part-deux/

Happy Calling.

Honestly, if BTL can ignore the PUC's ruling, so can we...

Lots of people in Belize are using VPN technology to "secure" their voice data streams. After receiving feedback from numerous sources, it looks like the best combination of the VPN service and VoIP client is with:

http://anchorfree.com - Free SSL VPN client

http://www.gizmoproject.com - VoIP client like Skype, same kind of deal adding credits to call regular phones

Many folks are reporting that Skype does not work well operating over a VPN. The major reason for this is the double encryption. Skype is already encrypted in its natural state and adding a VPN to the stream really disrupts the voice quality. Use Gizmo/AnchorFree and see there is a difference for you. Keep checking back to BFIC for more news.

http://bfic.wordpress.com