WAYNE, N.J. — Voice-over-IP telephony will grow from approximately 400,000 U.S. homes in 2004 to 12.1 million by 2009, according to a new report by JupiterResearch.
In a report titled ""Broadband Telephony: Leveraging Voice Over IP to Facilitate Competitive Voice Services", JupiterResearch said that VoIP service providers face two key challenges. Traditional carriers have a strong, well-established customer base and wireless telephony has been adopted by the younger generation. Current consumer telephony preferences will create challenges for VoIP start-ups establishing themselves in the market.
Despite the challenges, the researchers said VoIP telephony will reach 10 percent of U.S. homes over the next five years. Additionally, the firm said that 17 percent of broadband subscribers will sign up for VoIP phone services.
But, the key to this growth will lie in the startup community. "Just like we saw with DSL five years ago, VoIP start-ups will be extremely important in jump-starting the market, and will motivate established carriers to develop their own VoIP services," said Joe Laszlo, senior analyst at JupiterResearch.
