VoIP set to boom, say analysts
More than one million US consumers will have subscribed to an IP
telephone service by the end of this year, up from only 131,000 at
the end of 2003, according to a report released yesterday by
communications analysts Yankee Group.
More than one million US consumers will have subscribed to an IP
telephone service by the end of this year, up from only 131,000 at
the end of 2003, according to a report released yesterday by
communications analysts Yankee Group.
Internet telephony is the ability to make voice calls over any
internet connection, particularly broadband, using Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP). While handsets are still expensive
compared to landline handsets, VoIP call costs are reduced and
calls to other internet phones are often free of charge.
Although VoIP has existed as a technology for much of the last
10 years, the mass market for broadband connections and the recent
emergence of IP telephony-enabling protocols have revolutionised
the sector.
The report also predicts that 17.5 million US households will be
using the technology by the end of 2008.
