A new report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) shows that the popularity of VoIP technology is growing in the southern continent just as much as it has here in the states.
The research, titled, “The Evolution of VoIP in Australia,” shows that as of March of last year (the latest comprehensive figures available), there were 216 VoIP service providers on the continent, while over five million Australians or 28 percent, were using some form of VoIP services.
“The growth of adults using OTT (over-the-top) VoIP services on mobile phones, tablet devices, laptops or desktops has escalated from 15 percent to 24 percent in the four years to December 2014,” the report noted. “VoIP has also become a critical part of the wholesale telephony market, with 75 percent of international wholesale traffic being transported via VoIP or IP backhaul in 2014.”
The report further found that VoIP-managed service providers are challenging the sectors of the communications market once held by traditional fixed-line PSTN voice service providers. These new companies are giving consumers and businesses the ability to talk to others on VoIP via a fixed handset at home, usually at a lower cost than fixed-line services.
ACMA dug a little deeper and produced a rough profile of VoIP users, and shows how they’ve grown in the past five years. The users were found to be:
- Degree-educated—60 percent vs. 44 percent
- Aged between 25 and 44—45 percent vs. 37 percent
- Earning more than $50,000—45 percent vs. 35 percent
- Online more than once a day—86 percent vs. 69 percent
- Using a mobile device to go online—68 percent vs. 53 percent.
The study also showed that inexpensive or free OTT services such as Skype (News - Alert) and Viber are dominant in the young adult demographic aged 18–24 , who use an average of six types of communications channels. The older users, those aged 65 and up, are only using an average of three. Of the OTT VoIP communications applications used in May 2014, Skype was the most popular, followed by Facetime (46 percent) and Viber (40 percent).