Broadband Value-Added Services 60% Up In 2004

Point-Topic shows business broadband access revenues grew more slowly than the number of lines during 2004, increasing by just fewer than 50%, from $13 billion to $19 billion.

In its new report, The Business BVAS Market, Point-Topic claims that business broadband access revenues grew more slowly than the number of lines during 2004, increasing by just under 50% from $13 billion to $19 billion.

By the start of 2005, business value-added services were adding around 19% to basic revenues. According to Point-Topic, the key services in terms of revenue were security, IP_VPNS and application service provision.

In percentage terms, voice of internet protocol (VoIP) and video conferencing saw the fastest growth, with increases of 249% and 222% respectively.

According to US analyst, eMarketer, small businesses are migrating to VoIP, being swayed by the lowering in cost of the technology and its ease of integration into the work place (see Small Businesses Adopt VoIP).

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that 7.3% of US small businesses currently use VoIP, with usage higher among firms with fewer employees.

Online households in the US are predicted to reach 88 million by the end of 2010, up from 75 million at the end of 2004, with an expected 78% penetration rate, according to the latest forecasts from JupiterResearch (see US Online Households Forecast To Hit 88 Million By End Of 2010).

Residential broadband adoption is expected to grow much faster, increasing to more than three-quarters of the online population by 2010, up from just under half of connected households in 2004.

Analyst, eMarketer, projects that broadband households will grow at a compound annual rate of 19.4% between 2004 and 2008, forecasting penetration for all households to grow to 56.3% in 2008, up from 23.1% in 2003.