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The Future of Consumer VoIP: Leveraging Internet Advances For Profitable Consumer Voice ServicesNEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: The Future of Consumer VoIP: Leveraging Internet advances for profitable consumer voice services http://www.reportlinker.com/p0243289/The-Future-of-Consumer-VoIP-Leveraging-Internet-advances-for-profitable-consumer-voice-services.html "It is important to distinguish between a profitable business that successfully sells VoIP services and a profitable VoIP business. Successful VoIP businesses are driven by other services the company offers, and by services that align with customers' perceived needs - not by the VoIP business alone." In the early 2000s, telecom industry experts widely expected VoIP to change the dynamics of the voice communications business. But a decade later, the largest providers of consumer Internet voice services are, with one exception, conventional telecommunications companies. Some are pioneers and innovators, some are not. What they do share, however, is a market strategy that doesn't rely solely on price. This report provides an overview of the current state of the consumer VoIP market, examines VoIP business successes and failures, and explores how evolving IP communications - mobility, convergence, femtocells, cloud computing, ultra-fast broadband, and open devices - are opening new opportunities for successful consumer VoIP services. Key Insights The most profitable over-the-top VoIP providers are those that quickly leveraged their success into building their own networks. Successful VoIP providers offer multiple communications services, as well as services aligned with the key needs of targeted markets. Consumer VoIP is most successful in the most regulated (non-Communist) markets. The core network is still a key opportunity for service providers to differentiate. Telecoms have more natural advantages in the VoIP business than incumbency. They understand consumer expectations, and the migration to all-IP networks allows them to leverage network consolidation. The pressure is on VoIP service providers to make VoIP mobile. Driven by growing mobile handset capabilities and broadband subscriptions, and continued high prices for international calls, the market for mobile VoIP is developing quickly. The mobile handset is coming into its own as a platform for converged communications. The rapidly growing number of mobile smartphones creates opportunities to integrate voice interaction into a wide range of applications, as well as creating opportunities for other types of intelligent, converged appliances - reinventing the home phone, for example. Amazon's Kindle e-book shows the opportunity for mobile communications-equipped "appliances" at mass-market prices. Consumers increasingly want services customized to their needs, preferences and priorities - giving VARs, software companies, and Internet companies, as well as voice service providers, opportunities increase their value to specific markets and customers. Emerging markets present big risks, but offer big VoIP opportunities because many people in these countries are bypassing conventional telephone service for mobile and VoIP. Use this report to: Identify profitable business opportunities, strategies and markets for consumer VoIP. Understand what works and what doesn't in the VoIP business. Analyze successful VoIP business models. Examine the challenges facing VoIP service providers. Discover Who are the winners and losers in consumer VoIP? How many VoIP subscribers and broadband (wired and mobile) users are there in China, Europe, Japan and the US? Who are the key VoIP players in these regions? What are the opportunities in specific regions? How can providers leverage Internet evolution into specific services that consumers value? What are the challenges facing VoIP providers, and what are the strategies they need to meet them? Table of Contents The Future of Consumer VoIP Executive summary 12 VoIP - The disruption that didn't disrupt 12 Consumer VoIP provider strategies 12 The VoIP market in China 13 The VoIP market in Europe 14 The VoIP market in Japan 15 The VoIP market in the US 16 New VoIP opportunities in Internet advances 17 Choosing a path to consumer VoIP business success 18 Chapter 1 Introduction - VoIP: The disruption that didn't disrupt 20 Summary 20 Introduction 20 Market disruption: more than technology change 21 Successful consumer VoIP businesses show opportunities 21 The future of consumer VoIP 22 Chapter 2 Consumer VoIP provider strategies 24 Summary 24 Free phone calls do not generate profits 25 Over-the-top consumer VoIP companies struggle for profitability 26 Vonage 26 Deltathree 29 Mobile VoIP delivers similarly disappointing results 30 Vyke 30 Truphone 30 New players 31 Ooma 32 The future of pureplay consumer VoIP 34 8x8 35 Traditional telecoms companies 38 AT&T 38 Comcast Cable 41 SoftBank BB 44 France Telecom 45 Skype 46 Chapter 3 The VoIP market in China 50 Summary 50 Introduction 51 Technology outlook 51 Broadband penetration & growth 51 Fixed voice line decline 51 Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 52 Consumer voice providers, VoIP providers 54 Market drivers, challenges, barriers, and cultural and social considerations 55 VoIP opportunities 55 Regulatory climate 56 Chapter 4 The VoIP market in Europe 60 Summary 60 Introduction 61 Technology outlook 62 Broadband penetration & growth 62 Fixed voice line decline 63 Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 64 European telecommunications industry landscape 65 VoIP providers 67 BT Group 67 Deutsche Telekom 68 Skype in Europe 70 France Telecom: lead change instead of following it 71 Iliad SA 72 OTE 76 TDC 76 European VoIP opportunities 78 Regulatory climate 79 VoIP regulation 79 Chapter 5 The VoIP market in Japan 82 Summary 82 Introduction 83 Technology outlook 83 Broadband penetration and growth 83 Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 84 Consumer voice providers, VoIP providers 85 NTT 85 SoftBank 86 NTT affiliates 88 KDDI 88 Cultural and social considerations 90 Opportunities 91 Challenges 92 Regulatory climate 93 VoIP regulation 93 Chapter 6 The VoIP market in the US 96 Summary 96 Introduction 97 Technology outlook 97 Broadband penetration & growth 97 Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 98 Telecommunications industry landscape 99 Consumer voice providers, VoIP providers 100 Market drivers, challenges, barriers, and cultural and social considerations 102 Unique market opportunities 103 Regulatory climate 104 A history of strategic deregulation 104 The debate over Internet regulation 105 VoIP regulation 106 Chapter 7 New VoIP opportunities in Internet advances 108 Summary 108 Introduction 109 The network: the essential enabling infrastructure 110 Bundling is a natural evolution for network operators 111 Video services drive successful bundling strategies, and three is the best number 111 The challenge with bundling: profitability 113 Network openness is another avenue to success 113 Google validates the importance of the underlying network 114 Google's history as Internet and VoIP provider 114 With the exception of Skype, Internet companies have not been successful with voice 115 Just saying you're a consumer services provider doesn't make you one 116 The size of Google's opportunity depends on who the competition is 117 Femtocells: enabling infrastructure for extending mobile phone into the home 118 Femtocells enable more mobile phone calls - not just indoor mobile phone calls 119 Simplicity is key for femtocells 121 Incentives for adoption 122 Capabilities: 21st century VoIP is mobile 124 The obvious short-term opportunity: cheap mobile VoIP calling 125 The long-term opportunities: fixed-mobile convergence, new mobile services with integrated voice 126 C 127 apabilities: Convergence fights eroding profitability with added value and convenience 127 Opportunities through convergence 127 Challenges: market education, business alignment, and ease-of-use 129 Capabilities: Cloud telephony enables advanced functionality at basic prices 131 The personal PBX 131 Cloud telephony challenges: price, differentiation, and establishing the value proposition 132 Capabilities: Intelligent voice changes the focus from 'how much it costs' to 'how much it does' 134 Delivery: Apps that go beyond simple voice integration 134 Delivery: Open handset platforms offer the opportunity for competitively priced special-purpose appliances 136 Opportunities in medical applications 136 Hiding in plain sight: reinventing the home phone 137 Specialized device and app challenges: price, channel conflict, usability and security 138 The future: KDDI's Polaris life device 139 Chapter 8 Choosing a path to consumer VoIP business success 142 Summary 142 Paths to success 142 Three building blocks for business models 144 Company examples 144 Consumer VoIP service examples 146 Chapter 9 Appendix 149 Bibliography 149 Index 155 List of Figures Figure 2.1: Vonage financial performance ($m), 2004-2009 27 Figure 2.2: Vonage Q1 2010 ARPU, marketing costs and new subscribers 28 Figure 2.3: Over-the-top VoIP companies revenue and losses (latest available, $m) 34 Figure 2.4: 8x8 financial performance ($m), 2005-2009 37 Figure 2.5: AT&T U-verse TV and voice subscriber growth, 2008-2009 39 Figure 2.6: AT&T U-verse subscriber bundle uptake, 2009 40 Figure 2.7: Comcast and Vonage VoIP customers (000s), 2005-2009 42 Figure 2.8: Comcast digital voice subscriber growth, 2006-2009 43 Figure 2.9: France Telecom service take-up (%), 2008-2009 45 Figure 2.10: Skype revenue and user account growth, 2005-2009 47 Figure 3.11: Consumer mobile and fixed lines in China (m), 2009-2014 52 Figure 3.12: Consumer VoIP users and revenues in China, 2009-2014 53 Figure 3.13: Chinese telecom services pricing and regulation 57 Figure 4.14: Broadband subscribers in Europe (m), 2009-2014 62 Figure 4.15: Consumer mobile and fixed lines in Europe (m), 2009-2014 63 Figure 4.16: Consumer VoIP subscribers and revenues in Europe, 2009-2014 64 Figure 4.17: Iliad subscribers and ARPU, 2006-2009 74 Figure 4.18: Iliad revenue, profits and margin change, 2006-2009 75 Figure 4.19: TDC customer segmentation by service (%) 77 Figure 5.20: VoIP and mobile broadband subscriptions in Japan (m), 2009-2014 84 Figure 5.21: Japan VoIP service market share for key operators (%) 85 Figure 5.22: SoftBank consolidated business profitability, 2006-2009 87 Figure 6.23: US consumer Internet subscribers (m), 2009-2014 98 Figure 6.24: Consumer VoIP subscribers and revenues in the US, 2009-2014 99 Figure 6.25: US handset-based VoIP market share for key operators (%) 101 Figure 7.26: TV companies lead in triple play ARPU 112 Figure 7.27: Global femtocell access points and users (m), 2009-2014 119 Figure 7.28: The business case for femtocells 120 Figure 7.29: SoftBank revenue, 1995-2009 - the impact of free DSL modems and VoIP service 123 Figure 7.30: Global VoIP and mobile broadband subscriptions (m), 2009-2014 124 Figure 7.31: Changing communications preferences for 15-25 year olds, 1990-2010 129 Figure 8.32: Building blocks for Consumer VoIP business models - summary 144 Figure 8.33: Building blocks for Consumer VoIP business models - company examples 145 Figure 8.34: Building blocks for Consumer VoIP services 147 List of Tables Table 2.1: Vonage financial performance ($m), 2005-2009 27 Table 2.2: Vonage Q1 2010 ARPU, marketing costs and new subscribers 28 Table 2.3: Over-the-top VoIP companies revenue and losses (latest available, $m) 35 Table 2.4: 8x8 financial performance ($m), 2005-2009 37 Table 2.5: AT&T U-verse TV and voice subscriber growth, 2008-2009 40 Table 2.6: AT&T U-verse subscriber bundle uptake, 2009 41 Table 2.7: Comcast and Vonage VoIP customers (000s), 2005-2009 42 Table 2.8: Comcast digital voice subscriber growth, 2006-2009 43 Table 2.9: France Telecom service take-up (%), 2008-2009 46 Table 2.10: Skype revenue and user account growth, 2005-2009 47 Table 3.11: Consumer mobile and fixed lines in China (m), 2009-2014 52 Table 3.12: Consumer VoIP users and revenues in China, 2009-2014 53 Table 4.13: Consumer fixed VoIP subscribers (m) in selected European countries, 2009-2014 65 Table 4.14: Iliad subscribers and ARPU, 2006-2009 74 Table 4.15: Iliad revenue, profits and margin change, 2006-2009 75 Table 5.16: SoftBank consolidated business profitability, 2006-2009 87 Table 7.17: Percentage of consumers that are interested in services targeted to their special interests 134 To order this report: VOIP Industry: The Future of Consumer VoIP: Leveraging Internet advances for profitable consumer voice services More Market Research Report Check our Company Profile, SWOT and Revenue Analysis! 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