Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. has introduced three new members of its Legerity VE880 VoicePort series of VoIP phone interface devices: the Le88266, Le88276 and Le88286.

The devices offer a pin-compatible upgrade from existing devices and contain performance improvements targeting the residential and enterprise VoIP gateway markets, the company said. Each new VE880 VoicePort device also supports both wideband and narrowband telephony operation.

And, according to Zarlink, the new series of VoIP phone interface devices require about half as many external components as competing solutions, and they utilize about 50 percent less power than competing devices.

"Zarlink's new VoicePort products support the latest requirements from VoIP service providers and demonstrate our commitment and leadership in the voice market," said Warner Andrews, VP of marketing for Zarlink's Wired Communications Group. "Continuing worldwide demand for triple-play and VoIP services is driving incumbent and next-generation carriers to deploy multi-service gateways containing our products."

The VE880 series is optimized for all types of voice-over-broadband residential gateway applications, including cable embedded multimedia terminal adaptors (EMTAs), DSL integrated access devices (IADs) and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) optical network terminals (ONTs), the company said.

The number of VoIP subscribers is expected to grow from 46 million in 2006 to 172 million by 2010, according to industry analyst firm Infonetics Research.

Zarlink said that it holds at least a 40 percent market share in the voice circuit market, and the company expects to grow its position as network operators aggressively deploy triple-play voice, video and data services.