Analysts Question BT’s VoIP Success

Analysts at Ovum have questioned BT’s announcement that it now has more than one million registered consumer customers for its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, BT Broadband Talk and BT Softphone, six months earlier than projected, saying the figures are not entirely accurate.

“BT’s statement is worded rather loosely – it implies that BT has a million VoIP users, whereas in reality anyone who takes a BT Retail Total Broadband package is automatically registered for VoIP even if they don’t use the service,” said Mark Main, senior analyst at Ovum. “With these customer numbers, we think BT has a small overall market lead but as more players enter the market it will be increasingly difficult to sustain.

“We at Ovum, forecast continued UK growth of VoIP for the next five years, which takes us into next-generation voice and, specifically, BT’s 21st Century network. The composition of the voice market then will be quite different to what we see today; BT’s goal is to continue to be a leading player across many market segments – VoIP will be key to that success,” he said.

VoIP is now increasingly bundled by operators and Ovum says it is hard to analyse precisely how many customers are really using the service in earnest and how many have merely used it a few times if at all.

The June 2006 launch of BT Total Broadband (see BT Joins “Free” Broadband Battle) placed internet telephony at the heart of the UK’s most comprehensive, value-packed broadband packages. Following a major revamp, BT unveiled three new VoIP services under the BT Broadband Talk banner, allowing customers to make calls through their PC, a videophone or a phone.

BT: 0207 469 2337 www.btplc.com Ovum: www.ovum.com