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, a report from research firm In-Stat said.
However, despite the impressive 62% year-over-year subscriber growth rate in 2005, few consumers have ever heard of the term 'VoIP,' the firm also said.
This indicates providers have 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, 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.' The report also said 73% 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 Asia, South Korea will have the highest VoIP growth rate, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore.
In Europe, broadband ISPs, such as Free Telecom (France) and FastWeb (Italy) are leading the way with innovative consumer triple-play service bundles.