The number of subscribers to retail VoIP services rose by 83 percent during 2005, from 10.3 million at the beginning of 2005 to more than 18.7 million subscribers worldwide by the end of the year, according to Point Topic’s latest report “IP Telephony.”
"If you then add in the PC-to-phone sector, Skype (Technologies S.A.) and the like, then the number of global VoIP subscribers gets close to 24 million," says John Bosnell, senior analyst at Point Topic, "which is about 65 percent up on the year before."
France, Japan and the United States continue to dominate the VoIP market in terms of subscriber numbers, according to Point Topic. But other European nations, notably Germany, the Netherlands and Norway began to see a significant number of VoIP subscribers by the end of 2005 and many of these markets were reporting strong growth for early 2006, Point Topic reported.
Point Topic has estimated the number of Skype users, based on reported results for fourth quarter 2005. The reported revenue totals $28.4 million, which would equate to an average of 4.73 million subscribers paying $2 per month during the three months of the quarter, according to Point Topic. This is, of course, an assumption, but gives an idea of how many regular-paying customers (or 'paying-customer-equivalents') Skype has.
"There are plenty of markets with plenty of room for growth. France, Japan and the United States have proven that consumers are happy to use these services, particularly if they see themselves saving money. The remaining barriers are consumer inertia and local regulations," said Bosnell.
Point Topic www.point-topic.com
