Mobile VoIP Revenues to Skyrocket Over the Next Five Years

According to marketing intelligence firm Frost & Sullivan, 2010 is the beginning of a five year upswing for the unified communications market - and VoIP for mobile solutions is poised to benefit the most.

Global demand for VoIP phones and other telecoms equipment has been steadily climbing despite the recession, with approximately 12.6 million VoIP phones shipped during last year. The entire market earned revenues in the neighborhood of $7.7 billion in 2009.

However, this is just the beginning for a market that is set to expand even more rapidly over the next half decade. Revenues generated from mobile VoIP technology alone across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to grow to $29.57 billion by 2015 - an increase from a mere 605.8 million at the end of 2008.

HD VoIP will also see a huge increase in use over the next five years, according to figures from ABI Research, with up to 487 million mobile phone customers expected to have HD compatible phones and access to HD VoIP service by 2015. This in turn will encourage mobile providers to upgrade their available service packages to offer better audio capability and wider coverage areas.

As more options become available, costs for mobile voice over IP solutions drop, and coverage becomes more widespread. This encourages small companies and big business alike to turn to mobile VoIP solutions. Both in office setups and mobile on the go communications devices allow users to stay connected whether they are telecommuting, traveling, or simply multitasking in today's high speed business environment.

Saverio Romeo, a senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, explained: "The emergence of flat rate mobile data pricing, positive growth of smartphone shipments and high-speed mobile broadband availability has spurred the adoption rate of mobile VoIP."

Both 'smartphones' and 'softphones' have played a large part in the willingness of mobile carriers to stop fighting VoIP and figure out a way to benefit from it. Some companies fight back against lost revenue by attempting to cap usage; others embrace it by marketing home service as an add on to mobile.

Saiju is a VoIP and business software expert specializing in hosted phone systems and mobile VoIP solutions.