VoIP To Reach Over 13 Million US Broadband Subscribers

By the end of this year, only 1 million US homes and 100,000 small businesses are forecast to be using VoIP but this will grow by 17% and 23% respectively as it reaches a turning point in the development of the US telecoms market says the report VoIP In The US Market: Services, Business Models And Regulations.

Michael Kende, report co-author said: “VoIP will have a fundamental impact on all aspects of US telecoms because it causes fragmentation of supply and services offered.”

VoIP subscriptions will generate $5.7 billion in annual service revenue in 2008, although this is a significant amount, it represents only 2.5% of the 2003 total US telecoms revenue of $224 billion.

The report says that VoIP growth for medium and large businesses is also very strong. Analysys expects IP station lines to grow to more than 18 million by 2008, this is a compound annual growth rate of over 50%, up from 3 million by the end of this year.

VoIP entered the market this year with major telecoms players and regulators, such as Time Warner Cable and AT&T, promising huge cost savings to consumers. Kende said: “VoIP has now moved from a behind the scenes network migration strategy to a distinct billable service, separable from the underlying network, controllable to the end user and with its own pricing schemes, features and terminal equipment.”