While many consumer VoIP services have been phenomenally successful - many service providers are now boasting subscriber counts in the millions - virtually no VoIP operators have chosen to differentiate their services by offering wideband telephony. This article studies why few operators are offering wideband telephony service today, and some of the changes that are occurring in residential gateway equipment that may help speed deployment.

This article looks at the evolution of broadband services and the future of VoIP, and examines the ways in which changing technologies, as well as changing business, political and regulatory environments, influence broadband service providers and their customers. In particular, it looks at changes to silicon technology that are helping address the issue of power consumption in residential VoIP gateways.