A new study showed that service providers carried an estimated 127.5 billion minutes of VoIP traffic worldwide in the second quarter of 2005 with nearly a third of the traffic being carried on networks based on Sonus Network's technology, the Chelmsford, Mass.-based company announced Wednesday.

According to a quarterly report issued by the iLocus industry research firm, Sonus networks carried an estimated 38.2 billion minutes of VoIP traffic in the second quarter of 2005, more than twice the amount of total VoIP traffic carried by any other equipment provider in the industry.

But while the total number of minutes carried over VoIP networks appears to be a staggering figure, it still only represents 13 percent of all long distance minutes. Sonus held the number one market share position in both national and international long distance traffic with 39.5 percent and 21.9 percent of the market respectively.

"The VoIP market has grown at an unprecedented rate in recent quarters, but the biggest opportunity still lies ahead. As more and more carriers build out new and existing VoIP networks, Sonus is well positioned to take advantage of the industry's push towards IP-based infrastructure solutions," said Jahangir Raina, Director, iLocus.

The iLocus report identified the wireless market as one of the prime growth opportunities for vendors in the VoIP industry, noting that IMS compliance on the part of equipment providers is important because most incumbents are asking vendors to conform to this standard.

"We are committed to extending our leadership position in the industry by building on our success with our current customers, as well as breaking into new and emerging markets, particularly in the wireless realm and in international regions where many carriers are just beginning their migration," said Hassan Ahmed, CEO of Sonus Networks. Sonus, which has been deploying SIP-based networks for the past six years, recently received a Technology Innovation award for its IMS solution from Frost and Sullivan.