A recent study by Stratus Telecommunications (News - Alert) examines the phenomenon that “market demand for Voice over IP (VoIP) services has skyrocketed in recent years, as residential subscribers seek ways to lower their communications costs and enterprises are compelled to simplify network management while controlling expenses.” 

Analysts agree that SBC revenue growth is being fueled by the move towards ubiquitous converged  IP communications over multiple heterogeneous broadband access networks, but the technology is penetrating certain markets slower than others.

Probably seen as mostly a “business thing” by residential customers until recently, the Stratus study finds that recent improvements in security and reliability, coupled with mass-market advertising, “have propelled sales of VoIP services to tremendous heights, a trend that is expected to continue unabated for several years.”

There’s certainly been a surge in publicity, as the study finds: “Consumers are bombarded on a daily basis with offers for Triple Play (News - Alert) (voice, video and data) services, feature-rich cell phones and interactive entertainment services... Subscribers are well- aware that they are living through a technology revolution -- and they are eager to accelerate the pace and capitalize on the latest advancements.”

ABI Research (News - Alert) projects a seven-fold increase in the number of residential VoIP subscribers worldwide between 2006 and 20121, while Frost & Sullivan forecasts enterprise VoIP services revenues to surge to $3.3 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.4 percent.

“As VoIP service penetrates the mass market, subscribers by the millions are becoming educated on the advantages of packet-based networks for their communications needs,” Stratus officials say. “Enhanced features, personalization, simplified billing and intuitive user controls are appealing to both residential and enterprise markets.”

The study finds that subscribers “value the ability to configure their services to control who can contact them at any given time or place. Enterprises that integrate VoIP into business applications are realizing productivity and customer service improvements, while immigrants are leveraging VoIP offerings that enable them to communicate with family in their home country without incurring long distance charges.”