<<<..."Home consumers already use things like Skype, but the problem with Skype is that you can only talk to [other Skype users] for free," said Daley. "You also don't have a proper telephone number unless you pay for it. [Enum] allows you to go to Skype's competitors, get a proper telephone number from them and then dial any other competitor who wishes to participate for free."

 "Many people may move VoIP provider to get a company that does this properly," added Daley. "All these little islands of VoIP providers are going to have to be connected or risk losing their business to companies that are." According to Daley, the system will go live in spring 2008. Some numbers, such as 0800 freephone numbers, may not be supported, but it is likely that mobile numbers will be supported; a development that could see more widespread implementation of VoIP clients on handsets using Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity.

Once the system goes live, businesses using internet telephony servers will be able to contact their registrar — or possibly their VoIP provider — to register their numbers. The registrar will then use a third party to verify the ownership of the number, before registering the resulting domain name with Nominet.

Skype U-turns on 'second class status' video