Voip has quickly proven itself to be not just a viable option for business and residential communications, but also as an incredible leap forward into a future of communication where high quality audio and video transfer, substantially reduced call rates and incredible flexibility come as standard.
But as the saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing - and that it seems is what may be happening to the world of Voip - with certain sectors facing the challenge of having to ensure that market saturation does not become a reality in the near future.
The statistics are alarming. In 2010 Voice Over IP subscriber numbers reached nearly one hundred and sixty million, showing an increase of almost 13%, followed up by the number of residential customers reaching over one hundred and seventy five million in 2011 - an increase of over 14%.
The most users belong to the USA, Japan and France respectively, with the UK languishing in 10th place - thanks in no small part to the somewhat lacking broadband ability.
In the case of France and Japan in particular, the main driver behind the rise in Voice Over IP coverage has been the introduction of fibre based broadband services. In France in particular nearly 95% of subscribers also have a Voice Over IP service.
But regardless of when if and even why market saturation should ever occur, there are still many untapped markets just waiting to jump on the Voice Over IP bandwagon, and none-more-so than China, where in 2010 figures show just one bundled Voip package for every twenty subscription.
As well as this, mobile Voip usage is also growing at an incredible rate thanks to the ever increasing numbers of Smartphones on the market offering Voip services. In 2011 alone, active mobile Voip subscriber rates tripled to over 29 million from just 9 million in 2010.
So market saturation is a very real and very imminent issue - but it surely isnt one that will be causing any sectors of the Voice Over IP service providers sleepless nights - unless they happen to be in France or Japan. The truth is that eventually all businesses will come to rely on Voip, but the reality is that there's still a whole world of opportunity out there, and there will be for many years to come yet.
But as the saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing - and that it seems is what may be happening to the world of Voip - with certain sectors facing the challenge of having to ensure that market saturation does not become a reality in the near future.
The statistics are alarming. In 2010 Voice Over IP subscriber numbers reached nearly one hundred and sixty million, showing an increase of almost 13%, followed up by the number of residential customers reaching over one hundred and seventy five million in 2011 - an increase of over 14%.
The most users belong to the USA, Japan and France respectively, with the UK languishing in 10th place - thanks in no small part to the somewhat lacking broadband ability.
In the case of France and Japan in particular, the main driver behind the rise in Voice Over IP coverage has been the introduction of fibre based broadband services. In France in particular nearly 95% of subscribers also have a Voice Over IP service.
But regardless of when if and even why market saturation should ever occur, there are still many untapped markets just waiting to jump on the Voice Over IP bandwagon, and none-more-so than China, where in 2010 figures show just one bundled Voip package for every twenty subscription.
As well as this, mobile Voip usage is also growing at an incredible rate thanks to the ever increasing numbers of Smartphones on the market offering Voip services. In 2011 alone, active mobile Voip subscriber rates tripled to over 29 million from just 9 million in 2010.
So market saturation is a very real and very imminent issue - but it surely isnt one that will be causing any sectors of the Voice Over IP service providers sleepless nights - unless they happen to be in France or Japan. The truth is that eventually all businesses will come to rely on Voip, but the reality is that there's still a whole world of opportunity out there, and there will be for many years to come yet.
About the Author:
Saul Saresi writes regularly about Voip systems and technology for his website which can be found here cloud telephony to find out how much you can save with your Voip communications click here voip for business