voip is the next big thing

Yankee Group Forecasts Strong Consumer VoIP Growth

Written by Adam Gosling

Tuesday, 31 July 2007

Cable companies are leading the charge in a market that looks set to grow at better than 100 per cent as Americans turn to VoIP telephony in their millions.

According to a Yankee Group report released today, consumer VoIP adoption grew aggressively in 2006, up more than 125% and reaching more than 9 million subscribers. The consumer VoIP market maintains substantial growth

According to the Yankee Group Report, Growing Pains Persist in a Adolescent Market: Yankee Group's 2007 US Consumer VoIP Subscriber Forecast, published today, consumer VoIP services made headway by penetrating 9% of all US households, up from 4% in the previous year. VoIP is evolving beyond being a residential phone equivalent and is embedding itself into web-based advertisements, web site assistance and other click-to-call solutions. In addition, as consumers begin to demand inexpensive anywhere connectivity, there is more demand for mobile VoIP. The opportunity for VoIP on dual-mode mobile phones will increase as the number of units in use rises from 913,000 in 2006 to 22 million in 2011.

Additional key findings from this forecast include:

* At 167%, cable VoIP experienced the strongest growth in 2006.
* The majority of residential VoIP subscribers will subscribe to bundles from cable companies by 2011.
* The broadband VoIP market continues to see greater competition, with new market entrants bringing innovative solutions.
* There is significant potential for VoIP with FTTH in the market, considering the ongoing initiatives by Verizon with FiOS and AT&T with U-verse.

"The US consumer VoIP market continues to evolve and propagate," said Patrick Monaghan, Yankee Group Consumer Research senior analyst. "The disruptive impact of global connectivity will continue to change the VoIP market-making it even more difficult to measure. Despite some growing pains we've seen in the VoIP market recently, the market continues to grow and has significant potential as ILECS begin to migrate and create increased competition for both cable MSOs and broadband VoIP providers."

YANKEE GROUP (www.yankeegroup.com)

The people of Yankee Group are the global connectivity expertsTM-the leading source of insight and counsel for builders, operators and users of connectivity solutions. For nearly 40 years, Yankee Group has conducted primary research that charts the pace of technology change and its effect on networks, consumers and enterprises. Headquartered in Boston, Yankee Group has a global presence including operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin