VoIP의 밝은 미래 (eMarketer에서)

우리나라에서도 상용 서비스를 시작한 인터넷 전화 (즉, VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol) 산업의 장래가 아주 밝다는 전망입니다.

 

eMarketer에 의하면 북미 지역에서 2004년에는 $12.4억 수준이던 것이 2009년에는 20배 정도가 성장한 $234억 수준이 될 것이라고 하네요. 또한, 2004년에는 전체 가구의 1.2% 정도가 VoIP 서비스를 쓰고 있지만 2010년에는 20.4%가 쓰게 될 것이라고 합니다.

 

기존의 유선 전화와 무선 전화 서비를 하고 있는 통신 회사들이 무엇을 준비하고 있을 짐작할 수 있네요.

 

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VoIP's Bright Future

 

Published: October 28, 2005  (eMarketer)

Voice over IP service revenue is projected to grow sharply this decade, according to a new report.

Infonetics Research projects that VoIP service revenue in North America will jump to $23.4 billion in 2009 from just $1.24 billion in 2004.

"VoIP subscriber growth is skyrocketing right along with revenue growth. We're forecasting triple-digit growth from 2005 to 2006, with 6 million new subscribers a year every year from 2006 to 2008, when there will be over 24 million," said Kevin Mitchell, principal analyst of Infonetics Research and author of the report.

"Vonage leads the residential and SOHO VoIP subscriber market, but their share is the lowest it's been in nine months due to cable companies making gains," said Mr. Mitchell. "Cablevision and Time Warner Cable each have double-digit share and combined have over 40% of all North American residential VoIP subscribers. Time Warner Cable is gaining subscriber share and they only sell within their footprint, not nationwide like AT&T and Vonage."

The Infonetics estimates include business and residential revenues. A report released earlier this year by Frost & Sullivan estimated that North American residential VoIP service revenues will top $4 billion by 2010.

Meanwhile, a separate report from JupiterResearch projects that the number of VoIP households in the US will grow from the 1.2 million in 2004 to 20.4 million in 2010.

"With the current abundance of broadband telephony offerings, the market has spurred competition around price and features," said David Schatsky, Senior VP at JupiterResearch. "Although most consumers still do not know what VoIP stands for, they do increasingly know that if they have broadband they have alternatives for getting phone service."

While Jupiter feels that cable companies are well positioned to dominate the market, Infonetics is not so sure of that.

"The incumbent telcos have insubstantial subscriber share at this time, but we expect them to make a bigger impact in coming years, because triple-play services will all be based on broadband infrastructure," said Mr. Mitchell.

For more information on this rapidly expanding market, read eMarketer's VoIP: Spending and Trends report.