* European consumer VoIP market increased by 14 million subscribers in 2006
We’ve dedicated several newsletters to talk about the uptake in consumer VoIP here in the United States, discussing progress made by Comcast, Vonage, SunRocket and others. But it appears the real consumer VoIP momentum is in Europe, according to a recently released In-Stat report.
We’ve dedicated several newsletters to talk about the uptake in consumer VoIP here in the United States, discussing progress made by Comcast, Vonage, SunRocket and others. But it appears the real consumer VoIP momentum is in Europe, according to a recently released In-Stat report.
The report titled “Europe Leads the Booming Consumer VoIP Market,” “provides forecasts for global VoIP subscribers, segmented by region, through 2011 [along with] analysis of major VoIP markets around the world, [and the] market drivers and challenges,” according to the company’s statement. Readers can find out more about the In-Stat report by clicking here.
According to In-Stat:
*Total VoIP subscribers worldwide increased by 34 million subscribers in 2006.
* The European consumer VoIP market increased by over 14 million subscribers last year. The countries with the largest VoIP subscriber gains in 2006 include France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
* In contrast, U.S. wireline operators added only 4 million VoIP subscribers in 2006. In 2011, the U.S. will represent only 18% of the global consumer VoIP market.
* By 2011, the consumer VoIP market will total nearly $44 billion worldwide.
Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst, noted that, “the European VoIP market is being aided by local loop unbundling (LLU), the introduction of cable telephony and triple-play service bundles, as well as operator consolidation.”
Our analysis: We believe that the relatively high cost of POTS calls in Europe – especially international calling, (compared to the cost of U.S. phone calls) is another reason for the rapid adoption of VoIP in Europe. Furthermore, the widespread availability of affordable broadband access in European countries also is a contributing factor to VoIP’s success. And, we would point out that while businesses do consider price as one factor when deciding to go forward with VoIP, other factors like enhancing worker productivity are also a big part of the enterprise business case whereas consumers are more likely to make price the biggest part of their decision to adopt VoIP. And, as In-Stat’s Nissen points out, the United States isn’t the only country offering a triple-play bundle.
Not to overstate the obvious, but it looks to us like consumer VoIP is here to stay.
