The subscriber base of Voice over IP (VoIP) services worldwide will remain small compared to the numbers of conventional fixed and mobile phone customers, even by 2010. But in terms of relative growth, VoIP is -- and will remain -- a dynamic market. And the most successful business model for VoIP services uses its strengths to add value to existing broadband subscriptions. These are the key conclusions drawn by ABI Research's latest study of the residential VoIP market, "Global Residential VoIP Assessment." Consumers can get their VoIP services from a variety of sources: telcos and broadband providers using DSL, cable companies, or hosted providers that own no networks, such as the well-known Vonage. "For the consumer, VoIP's greatest benefit is that you can consolidate many things. For example you could have your email working with your voicemail, working with your telephone, working with your Outlook calendar. Such enhanced value services are a key drawcard." One of the largest residential VoIP deployments, accounting for a sizeable percentage of the world market, has been carried out in Japan by Softbank BB, a broadband provider that is also dipping a toe in the "telco TV" pool. Softbank is the subject of one of the case studies contained in the new report. "Such broadband operators trying to take market share away from the incumbent telcos have had some success, mostly leveraging an existing DSL network and adding VoIP to its data services. That's also the approach cable companies will take. In North America, because of the dominance of cable broadband, the battle will be between hosted VoIP companies and the cable companies. The cable companies will push VoIP to their existing customer base using cable modems."
Every executive who has approved a connected product roadmap has made a quiet assumption: the network underneath it will still be there. That assumption is about to be tested at a scale the automotive industry has never faced. The global connected vehicle installed base is heading toward a billion units, and the cellular technology most of those vehicles depend on is scheduled to begin its retirement before the end of the decade. For automakers, fleet operators, insurers, and the telecom carriers that serve them, the question is whether the recurring revenue those services promise can survive a connectivity layer with a shorter life than the vehicle carrying it. How Scale Meets an Expiry Date Omdia research forecasts that the global connected vehicle installed base will surpass 1.05 billion units by 2035, up from 473.7 million in 2025. Few installed bases of any kind more than double in a decade, and this one signals that connectivity is moving from premium differentiator to baseline e...