The global market for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has arrived, with In-Stat showing that total VoIP subscribers reached 16 million in 2005, projected to grow to over 55 million in 2009.
Despite an impressive 62% year on year jump in subscriber growth during 2005, the high-tech market research firm claims that few consumers have ever heard of the term VoIP, with 73% of all users worldwide having migrated to the technology without making a conscious buying decision.
This lack of knowledge indicates that providers have to continue to educate the public in the new technology, with In-Stat identifying considerable growth within the market for growth.
Commenting on the figures, Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst said: “Competition in broadband access services is the key driving force behind VoIP market development. In addition, multiple waves of new entrants, ranging from broadband ISPs and cable MSOs, to Google and eBay will play significant roles.”
Other key findings in the new Global VoIP Has Arrived; Just Not as Expected, reveal that in North America and Canada, cable operators are aggressively expanding their VoIP footprint.
South Korea is expected to have the highest VoIP growth rate, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. In Europe, In-Stat claims that broadband ISPs such as Free Telecom, in France, and FastWeb, in Italy, will lead the way with innovative consumer triple play services.
According to recent forecasts from the Banc of America Securities cable operators are pushing ahead with their broadband and voice offerings, enabling them to offer customers the increasingly popular “triple-play” service that looks set to enjoy a surge in popularity over the coming years (see Cable Providers Push Triple Play Offerings).
Despite figures suggesting that cable operators are losing subscribers to DSL line adoption, Doug Shapiro from the Banc of America Securities claims that, on a year on year basis, these losses should amount to less than 1%.
This estimate means that cable’s overall customer count should remain around 68 million currently, stabilising for the next four to five years.
VoIP is proving a lucrative technology for cable providers, with Comcast saying it ended 2005 with more than 200,000 VoIP customers, while Cablevision has more than 600,000 digital voice subscribers.
According to Bernstein Research, VoIP net additions are expected to accelerate through to 2007, with a peak of 4.6 million additions over the next year. The International Data Corporation also forecasts strong growth for VoIP, projecting 27 million users to have subscribed by 2009 (see VoIP Gaining In Popularity).
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