Awareness Up By One-Third, Familiarity Doubles, But Interest Remains Flat, Ipsos-Insight Study Reveals -- Awareness of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) rose dramatically in the past year, with 62 percent of American Internet users now aware that they can use their Internet connection to make telephone calls, up from 41 percent only a year ago, according to a recent study conducted by Ipsos-Insight of more than 1,200 Internet users in the U.S. Most consumers surveyed are aware that they can use their regular phone for VoIP telephony, that they can have multiple lines connected, and that they can use their Internet connection while making phone calls. However, the 33 percent increase in awareness has not yet translated into wide-spread adoption of VoIP. Consumer familiarity with the burgeoning technology grew dramatically over the past year, with 9 percent of respondents indicating that they were �very familiar� with VoIP and 20 percent of respondents stating they were �somewhat familiar.� Last year, only 4 percent of respondents were very familiar with VoIP, and 14 percent were somewhat familiar.
What was once a simple, unidirectional flow of electricity from centralized power plants to passive consumers is evolving into a complex, intelligent network where millions of distributed resources actively participate in grid operations. This transformation, powered by smart grid technologies, represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of our time. It promises to reshape how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. At its core, the smart grid represents far more than mere digitization of existing infrastructure. This bi-directional capability is fundamental to understanding why smart grids are becoming the backbone of modern energy systems, facilitating everything from real-time demand response to the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Grid Market Development By 2030, smart grid technologies are projected to cover nearly half of the global electrical grid, up dramatically from just 24 percent in 2025. This expansion is underpinned by explosive gr...