Broadband Brings Broad Changes

• Posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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• Author: pradhana
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• Filed under: Broadband, IPTV, VoIP

Will zippier delivery speeds zap slower players?

As broadband connectivity spreads around the world, so do the value-added services of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and Internet protocol television (IPTV).

"VoIP is a genuinely disruptive technology; it is already changing the telecommunications landscape," says eMarketer Senior Analyst Ben Macklin, author of the new Broadband Services: VoIP and IPTV report.

Internet telephony, both free and paid services, grew rapidly during 2006, driven by the rapid uptake of high-speed Internet, a greater awareness of VoIP and attractive bundled offerings from service providers.

According to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), VoIP subscribers will account for over one-third of all US landline subscriptions in 2010, up from approximately 10% in 2006.

eMarketer estimates that 46% of US broadband households in 2011 will subscribe to a VoIP service, equating to 41.3 million VoIP subscribers.

"eMarketer expects approximately 30% of broadband households worldwide to subscribe to a paid VoIP service by 2011," says Mr. Macklin. "In addition to paid subscriptions, millions of broadband households are regularly utilizing free Internet voice services from companies such as Skype, which recently reported 171 million registered users at the end of 2006, up nearly 100 million from a year earlier."

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