TMCnews Featured Article
August 03, 2011
Data Consumption Growth Creates Opportunities for VoIP Enabler Technologies
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The days of unlimited data plans meant that users could access any level of multimedia content on their mobile device without fear of overage charges. With the rapid growth in the adoption of smartphones and other cellular devices to support mobile data, service providers discovered they could no longer support unlimited data and still drive strong revenues.
Today, according to this MarketWatch release, 51 percent of operators no longer offer unlimited data plans. Sprint (News 
- Alert) is the only remaining major vendor to offer such a plan, and with the steady rise in consumption, we shouldn’t be surprised if a change isn’t in the near future. While this can be good for those who offer VoIP enabler technology, a clear focus on strategies and need will be required.
Allot Communications (News - Alert), a supplier of service optimization and revenue generation solutions, recently announced the results of its H1 2011 Allot MobileTrends Report. Research findings presented in the report suggest that the usage of mobile data bandwidth has steadily grown by 77 percent in the first half of 2011, based on data collected from Allot customers.
Video streaming is also showing strong growth, with a 93 percent increase. This sector is the single largest application consuming bandwidth, accounting for 39 percent. Even with this push, video is not the fastest growing application type. That honor goes to VoIP and IM, which grew 101 percent in the first half of 2011. This growth demonstrates significant opportunity for those operating in the VoIP enabler space.
While YouTube (News - Alert) remains the most popular Internet destination and accounts for 22 percent of mobile data bandwidth usage, Apple’s App Store generates 84 percent of overall app store traffic in terms of downloads. Google’s (News - Alert) Android Market only accounts for 13 percent among Allot customers.
The undisputed market leader in VoIP appears to be Skype as the provider claims 82 percent of the mobile VoIP bandwidth, a fact noted by companies offering VoIP enabler technologies. With Microsoft’s move to purchase Skype, enterprises may be more inclined to embrace its technology and leverage VoIP in the boardroom.
"OTT applications continue to shift the balance of power from the operators to the content and app providers," said Rami Hadar (News - Alert), President and CEO of Allot Communications, in a statement. "This presents a real challenge for survival to which operators have already begun to respond. We are seeing operators taking the opportunity to evolve their service plans, away from 'unlimited' and towards application-aware models, in order to meet this challenge."
With this constant shift toward data consumption, VoIP enabler technology is enjoying growing demand. Those better equipped to meet demand and embrace the opportunities will enjoy strong dominance in the broad market.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
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