August 2, 2007 -- A recent report from Yankee Group says that consumer VoIP adoption continued at an aggressive pace in 2006, growing more than 125% and reaching more than 9 million subscribers. According to the research firm, the consumer VoIP market maintains substantial growth, led by cable MSOs and broadband VoIP providers.
The report ("Growing Pains Persist in a Adolescent Market: Yankee Group's 2007 US Consumer VoIP Subscriber Forecast") reveals that consumer VoIP services made headway by penetrating 9% of all US households, up from 4% in the previous year.
"The US consumer VoIP market continues to evolve and propagate," comments Patrick Monaghan, Yankee Group's consumer research senior analyst. "The disruptive impact of global connectivity will continue to change the VoIP market, making it even more difficult to measure."
The firm contends that 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, according to the report, 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, forecasts the firm.
The report also finds that:
-- 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.
"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," concludes Yankee Group's Monaghan.