Internet and VOIP phones

Mobile VoIP is a hit with consumers according to the “Mobile and WiFi Phones and Subscribers” report released today by the Campbell CA-based telecom analyst firm Infonetics Research.

While mobile phone sales worldwide were up a healthy 13 percent in 2006, the interesting number is a 327 percent growth in WiFi phone sales during the same period.

Still not impressed? Consider what Infonetices predicts for the rest of the decade: A compound annual growth rate close to 200 percent for cellular/WiFi dual mode phones.

Consumers are choosing these two to one over single-mode WiFi equipment. In 2006 71 percent of WiFi phone revenue came from dual-mode handsets while single mode WiFi made up only 29 percent of the total.

The report is certainly good news for makes of dual mode handsets; a rapidly growing field that includes established mobile phone players like Nokia as well as newcomers like San Jose, CA-based Hellosoft.

The numbers reflect user impatience with juggling multiple devices, according to Infonetics.

“Users are demanding single number/single device services, and operators like T-Mobile announced converged services based on Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) in 2006,” said directing analyst for wireless at Infonetics Research Richard Webb in today’s press release. “UMA is a good example of early fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), prior to the eventual shift to IMS in the long-term.”

Source and more info: voxilla

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 25th, 2007 at 9:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.