The numbers are always an entertaining way to look at and evaluate the current VoIP trends, even if they tend to contradict what the public image of companies like SunRocket and Vonage is creating. However, as with any new technology, these are simply wrinkles that need to be worked out before the technology can truly flourish.
So say the numbers anyways. Mainly because of the support of cable television and internet companies like Comcast, VoIP service – usually bundled together with internet packages – has grown dramatically. At first wary of the fledgling technology, Comcast and other major cable companies have started bundling digital calling packages and have been selling them in droves.
The numbers tell the story; VoIP access via cable providers grew 167 percent 2006 to almost 6.3 million users from 3.9. The Yankee Group, a technology watchdog group, expects that number to jump to almost 26.2 million by 2011. The main issue though, according to the Yankee Group is that most users are unaware of how their new phone service works. The same surveys found that only 10 percent of Cable VoIP subscribers were aware that their phone service was now powered via the internet.
As for the companies that have managed to gather the most users in the VoIP field, Comcast has jumped to the top of the ladder with nearly 2.4 million subscribers, boasting an increase of over 800 percent. The increase was enough to take over the top spot from the previous VoIP leader, Vonage, whose recent woes and legal battles with Verizon have left the company weakened.
The main problem that companies like Vonage, which still managed to gain 1.2 million customers in 2006, are facing is that each new customer costs the company somewhere in the neighborhood of $300. This startup cost for the company, including advertising, expansion and line maintenance, is likely part of the reason SunRocket collapsed so easily despite the 200,000 plus customers.
Regardless of recent woes though, the Yankee Group sees increase growth in Broadband VoIP, expecting as many as 6.4 million users by 2011. One of the major sources of possible growth lies in new technology such as FTTH VoIP, which relies of fiber projects being implemented by Verizon and AT&T, looking to replace old copper wiring systems.
Comcast was not the only cable company to see growth in 2006 either. Time Warner managed to increase their subscription base by 750,000 to 1.86 million customers and Cablevision now has 1.2 million subscribers to their VoIP service.
Regardless of the current state of things, the future looks bright for VoIP. Companies will likely learn from current mistakes and start protecting their investments a little more carefully, bundling their services and overcoming the current spat between so many companies and patent issues. Regardless of what they project, VoIP will likely outdistance itself as the technology slowly begins to settle, very similarly to how the internet’s growing pains in the late 1990s finally smoothed out and produced today’s Search and Social Networking giants.
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