The Future of Consumer VoIP: Leveraging Internet advances for profitable consumer voice services

July 26, 2010 - PRLog -- It is important to distinguish between a profitable business that successfully sells VoIP services and a profitable VoIP business. Successful VoIP businesses are driven by other services the company offers, and by services that align with customers' perceived needs - not by the VoIP business alone."

In the early 2000s, telecom industry experts widely expected VoIP to change the dynamics of the voice communications business. But a decade later, the largest providers of consumer Internet voice services are, with one exception, conventional telecommunications companies. Some are pioneers and innovators, some are not. What they do share, however, is a market strategy that doesn't rely solely on price.

This report provides an overview of the current state of the consumer VoIP market, examines VoIP business successes and failures, and explores how evolving IP communications - mobility, convergence, femtocells, cloud computing, ultra-fast broadband, and open devices - are opening new opportunities for successful consumer VoIP services.

Key Insights

* The most profitable over-the-top VoIP providers are those that quickly leveraged their success into building their own networks.
* Successful VoIP providers offer multiple communications services, as well as services aligned with the key needs of targeted markets.
* Consumer VoIP is most successful in the most regulated (non-Communist) markets.
* The core network is still a key opportunity for service providers to differentiate.
* Telecoms have more natural advantages in the VoIP business than incumbency. They understand consumer expectations, and the migration to all-IP networks allows them to leverage network consolidation.
* The pressure is on VoIP service providers to make VoIP mobile. Driven by growing mobile handset capabilities and broadband subscriptions, and continued high prices for international calls, the market for mobile VoIP is developing quickly.
* The mobile handset is coming into its own as a platform for converged communications.
* The rapidly growing number of mobile smartphones creates opportunities to integrate voice interaction into a wide range of applications, as well as creating opportunities for other types of intelligent, converged appliances - reinventing the home phone, for example. Amazon's Kindle e-book shows the opportunity for mobile communications-equipped "appliances" at mass-market prices.  
* Consumers increasingly want services customized to their needs, preferences and priorities - giving VARs, software companies, and Internet companies, as well as voice service providers, opportunities increase their value to specific markets and customers.
* Emerging markets present big risks, but offer big VoIP opportunities because many people in these countries are bypassing conventional telephone service for mobile and VoIP.  

Use this report to:

* Identify profitable business opportunities, strategies and markets for consumer VoIP.
* Understand what works and what doesn't in the VoIP business.
* Analyze successful VoIP business models.
* Examine the challenges facing VoIP service providers.

Discover

* Who are the winners and losers in consumer VoIP?
* How many VoIP subscribers and broadband (wired and mobile) users are there in China, Europe, Japan and the US?
* Who are the key VoIP players in these regions?
* What are the opportunities in specific regions?
* How can providers leverage Internet evolution into specific services that consumers value?
* What are the challenges facing VoIP providers, and what are the strategies they need to meet them?

For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
-  http://www.fastmr.com/prod/74641_the_future_of_consumer_v...

Partial Table of Contents:

Table of Contents
The Future of Consumer VoIP
Executive summary 12
VoIP - The disruption that didn't disrupt 12
Consumer VoIP provider strategies 12
The VoIP market in China 13
The VoIP market in Europe 14
The VoIP market in Japan 15
The VoIP market in the US 16
New VoIP opportunities in Internet advances 17
Choosing a path to consumer VoIP business success 18
Chapter 1 Introduction - VoIP: The disruption that didn't disrupt 20
Summary 20
Introduction 20
Market disruption: more than technology change 21
Successful consumer VoIP businesses show opportunities 21
The future of consumer VoIP 22
Chapter 2 Consumer VoIP provider strategies 24
Summary 24
Free phone calls do not generate profits 25
Over-the-top consumer VoIP companies struggle for profitability 26
Vonage 26
Deltathree 29
Mobile VoIP delivers similarly disappointing results 30
Vyke 30
Truphone 30
New players 31
Ooma 32
The future of pureplay consumer VoIP 34
8x8 35
Traditional telecoms companies 38
AT&T 38
Comcast Cable 41
SoftBank BB 44
France Telecom 45
Skype 46
Chapter 3 The VoIP market in China 50
Summary 50
Introduction 51
Technology outlook 51
Broadband penetration & growth 51
Fixed voice line decline 51
Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 52
Consumer voice providers, VoIP providers 54
Market drivers, challenges, barriers, and cultural and social considerations 55
VoIP opportunities 55
Regulatory climate 56
Chapter 4 The VoIP market in Europe 60
Summary 60
Introduction 61
Technology outlook 62
Broadband penetration & growth 62
Fixed voice line decline 63
Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 64
European telecommunications industry landscape 65
VoIP providers 67
BT Group 67
Deutsche Telekom 68
Skype in Europe 70
France Telecom: lead change instead of following it 71
Iliad SA 72
OTE 76
TDC 76
European VoIP opportunities 78
Regulatory climate 79
VoIP regulation 79
Chapter 5 The VoIP market in Japan 82
Summary 82
Introduction 83
Technology outlook 83
Broadband penetration and growth 83
Consumer VoIP penetration & forecast growth 84
Consumer voice providers, VoIP providers 85
NTT 85
SoftBank 86

Full Table of Contents is available at:
-- http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=7464...

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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.