-broadband access. In parts of Latin and Central America and Africa, less than one out of every 100 inhabitants has fixed-broadband access. For many of these areas, many experts believe that most residential subscribers will continue to use mobile ser- vices as their primary broadband access. In the future, as mobile services continue to improve, no one knows how many subscribers in developed countries will drop their landline service and depend on only their mobile device for both voice and Internet access. VolP Calling Services over Broadband Actual Speeds versus Advertised Speeds: The Discrepancies Are Large In a report released August 16, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated that in the United States, consumers generally get only half of a provider's advertised speed on their broadband service. In 2009, the average broadband speed offered by providers was 7Mbps to 8Mbps. However, the FCC's report revealed that the actual median speed was 3Mbps. This is because providers advertise maximum speeds rather than actual attainable speeds. Maximum speeds are rarely achieved due to factors such as network congestion, slow-loading web sites, and underperforming routers. The FCC report criticizes the advertisement of maximum speeds rather than actual, attainable speeds. The FCC stated that it plans to work with consumer and industry groups as well as technical experts and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on advertising and measuring actual speeds. VOIP CALLING SERVICES OVER BROADBAND To transmit Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), voice is digitized and bundled into packets. Packets are similar to envelopes in that they include headers that specify addressee and sender information (one of the ways that they differ, of course, is that they also provide error correction). Because headers are carried along with data pack- ets, they interface more easily with computer services such as e-mail. Standard com- puter platforms are used to manage VoIP services. Lower-Priced, Flexible Consume