Providers may not be doing enough to educate the public on VoIP, according to the findings of a recent report by In-Stat. An Arizona-based market research and analysis firm, In-Stat recently released the report, Global VoIP Has Arrived; Just Not As Expected.
According to the report, the global market for consumer VoIP services has arrived, with total VoIP subscribers worldwide at 16 million in 2005, and projected to grow to more than 55 million in 2009. But despite an impressive 62 percent year-over-year subscriber growth rate in 2005, few consumers have ever heard of the term VoIP. All of which points to the need for providers to continue to educate the public, and that there is considerable room for market growth.
“Competition in broadband access services is the key driving force behind VoIP market development,” said Keith Nissen, an In-Stat analyst. “In addition, multiple waves of new entrants, ranging from broadband ISPs and cable MSOs, to Google and eBay will play significant roles.”
Additional key findings include that 73 percent of all VoIP subscribers worldwide have migrated to VoIP without making a conscious buying decision to adopt the new technology. In North America and Canada, cable operators are aggressively expanding their VoIP footprint, but are marketing VoIP as plain old telephone service. In the meantime, Asia and South Korea are shaping up to have the highest VoIP growth rate, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore.
The In-Stat report covers current VoIP markets worldwide, including figures of year-end 2005 subscribers and revenue by major carrier and region. Five-year subscriber and revenue forecasts by region are also presented. The report documents the challenges that ISPs, cable, mobile and fixed-line carriers face to successfully implement strategies in a dynamic global VoIP market.
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Cindy Waxer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including TIME, Fortune Small Business, Business 2.0, Computerworld, Canadian Business, and Workforce Management. To see more of her articles, please visit Cindy Waxer’s columnist page.