A UK-based research group recently reported that the total number of mobile VoIP minutes will jump from 15 billion in 2010 to 470.6 billion by 2015, thanks to the proliferation of 3G and 4G networks. Juniper Research says the biggest boost will come from the U.S., which will account for 135 billion mobile VoIP minutes by 2015 and they forecast that there will be 100 million mobile VoIP users by 2012.

“There are several flavours of mobile VoIP,” says Anthony Cox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research, noting that operators fear losing traffic to Wi-Fi networks most: “Wi-Fi mobile VoIP is potentially the most damaging of all VoIP traffic, as it bypasses the mobile networks altogether,” he says. “We forecast that mobile VoIP over Wi-Fi will cost operators $5 billion globally by 2015.” .

For next generation VoIP network operators these numbers represent a significant opportunity to capture the lucrative mobile smartphone subscriber through mobile VoIP Wi-Fi softphones and through mobile dialer/callback applications which are tightly integrated into the native dialer and contact management of the phone. Traditionally, third party VoIP operators targeted residential land line subscribers, businesses and travelers, however with the growing number of smartphone users worldwide and the computing power of today’s smartphones, their services can now focus on the fastest growing voice market, which is mobile. .

According to an article published by FierceVoIP, The FCC’s Local Telephone Competition report has announced some big news for the VoIP industry. IP communications is on the rise with 21 million end-users taking advantage of VoIP subscriptions from cable, traditional telcos or VoIP providers.

The report noted that there were 162 million wireline retail local telephone service connections as of the end of 2008. Of that figure, 141 million were traditional switched access lines while 21 million were VoIP subscribers, which represents a tremendous opportunity for line conversions for service providers who have upgraded to a next-generation VoIP network.

With the virtualization of computers and the availability of cloud computing resources across the globe, companies are finding that they no longer need to make enormous investments in infrastructure and software licensing in order to keep pace with the evolving market place. Today, companies can subscribe to advanced software and service offerings in such areas as customer relationship management (CRM), voice over IP (VoIP), Call Centers, and unified messaging, where they have access to the most advanced and up-to-date services and features on a monthly subscription basis, without the need to manage the technology themselves or make heavy financial investments that can adversely impact their cash flow and balance sheet.

Software-as-a-Service for VoIP is ideally suited for the small companies, new market entrants and entrepreneurs who want to deploy similar technology to the larger, more established providers but cannot afford the capital outlay for product licensing, infrastructure, and/or human resources. Software-as-a-Service offers many competitive advantages for the provider primarily allowing them to focus on their marketing and revenue streams, while having the peace of mind that the infrastructure is always current and operational.

For those just starting out in VoIP and looking to develop local or remote markets, SaaS plays an invaluable role as it lets the service provider step out further with their marketing initiatives instead of tying up scarce and valuable capital building an infrastructure around a business that may or may not be successful. In the short term, SaaS lets providers enter a marketplace and test the viability of a business plan without over commitment and with a better chance of success through the preservation of working capital.

Verizon’s Global Wholesale VoIP service, with a base of more than 700 wholesale VoIP customers, experienced 200% growth in 2009, compared with the previous year. “Since we launched our VoIP portfolio 10 years ago, we’ve seen steady growth reflecting customer desire for reliable, cost-effective IP voice services,” said Mike Millegan, president of Verizon Global Wholesale. “And, as this market grows, we continue to add new VoIP services while enhancing our existing portfolio.”

In addition Verizon’s Wireless division might be the first major U.S. telecom provider to shift all of its users from legacy voice to VoIP by 2012, at least for its LTE network. “By 2012 the voice we sell on LTE will be VoIP,” Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless CEO.

As we mentioned back in January when AT&T asked the FCC to set a firm deadline for a complete move to an all IP network and an end to the PSTN, the move to an all IP communications network has always been a question of “when” and not “if”. With Verizon’s VoIP network growth, their near-term plans, and with SIP trunking expected to grow at 89 percent cumulative average growth rate between now and 2013 according to Diane Myers, Infonetics directing analyst, the move appears to be in full swing.

How do you as a service provider achieve competitive advantage and success in today’s challenging marketplace? How do you reduce your operational costs while driving higher demand services to your network? How do you reduce churn, instill loyalty and increase your subscriber base?

Today’s highly competitive landscape with razor thin profit margins makes it imperative that service providers like you create service offerings with your subscriber in mind in order to foster loyalty and grow your customer base. In addition, service offerings need to be in-demand and differentiated enough to ensure competitive advantage, and operational costs must be effectively managed and controlled in order to ensure the survival of your business.

Please join IVR Technologies’ Barry Sher and Randall Walrond on this webinar as they provide a comprehensive and in-depth presentation on market trends and opportunities, driving revenue to the network, building customer loyalty, prudent fiscal management, and potential areas of concern for the next-generation network.

If you are a traditional carrier migrating to VoIP, a new or existing next-generation service provider or someone considering investing in this market, this will be a presentation you cannot afford to miss.

• How to drive revenue through value added services.
• How to increase profit margins by migrating away from
  origination and termination services.
• How to capture your share of the lucrative and fast growing
  desktop and mobile (Smartphone) markets.
• How to reduce operational costs by consolidating the network, leveraging VoIP technology, implementing real-time billing and flattening your network architecture.
• How to leverage the web and bundle services to build your
  subscriber base and increase their loyalty.

 Who Should Attend?

• Network Operators & SIP trunking providers - executives, product managers, and network architects interested in deploying in-demand enhanced services and creative, real-time billing solutions.
• Telecom equipment manufacturers and system integrators - product managers and software architects interested in providing an end-to-end solution.
• Telecom consultants that are tasked with finding innovative and proven infrastructure solutions that can help their next-generation service provider clients build their business.

View the Webinar Now!

Infonetics is reporting that VoIP is back for businesses with an uptick in business VoIP sales. Infonetics expects business VoIP to make up a third of the VoIP service revenue by 2014. While residential VoIP has remained stable, service providers are reporting that hosted VoIP was up across all business classes at the end of 2009 and into 2010. This growth is a promising sign for carriers and service providers who are positioned to provide hosted VoIP business-to-business and carrier-to-carrier services.

"The enterprise telephony market was hit hard in 2009 due to the recession, but based on the latest quarterly shipment figures and results from our March 2010 survey of North American enterprises about IP PBX spending, it appears that the bleeding has stopped and 2010 promises to be a better year, good news for vendors and service providers alike," notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research in the release.

On the heels of market research firm In-Stat’s recent prediction that VoIP could reach 79% penetration in 3 years, they also estimate that there will be 288 million users of Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) by then. In-Stat believes that over half of these subscribers “will be associated with online mobile VoIP providers, under one-third will utilize mobile VoIP with 3G MVNOs or mobile operators, and 11 % with WiMAX/LTE operators.” With Apple’s and AT&T’s new relaxed policy with respect to voice being transmitted over the data network, and partnership agreements like Verizon’s and Skype’s or Truphone and Optus, this growth is only going to be accelerated. In-Stat estimates that annual sales of mobile VoIP applications will be $35.2 billion by 2013.

VoIP is an amazing technology that is poised to profoundly change how and when we communicate. While the growth to date has been primarily centered around cost-savings and land-lines, we are starting to see mobile VoIP gain traction despite the processors in today’s mobile phones and our congested 3G data networks. In time, VoIP will stop competing on price and it will start to compete on the features and benefits of richer, more empowered communications facilitated by high-definition voice, presence, Internet enablement and fixed mobile convergence and it will achieve 100% penetration.

In today’s difficult economic climate and highly competitive telecommunications landscape, it has become ever more challenging for the next-generation VoIP network operator to build a successful business. Whether you are offering SIP Trunking services with wholesale long distance services or the more lucrative retail VoIP services, collecting on monthly service bills can be difficult and protracted. In order to insulate the network operator from slow collections, bad debt, and the additional resources required to following up on accounts receivables, network operators are now turning their attention to the deployment of real-time billing solutions and automated electronic payment solutions.

VoIP has long been known for its cost savings; however unpredictable quality and reliability, as well as a lack of emergency systems compatibility, hindered its widespread adoption.  Over the last few years VoIP has matured and the issues of the past are now in its rear view mirror.

Based on a new report by In-Stat, by 2013 marketers can expect VoIP penetration to reach 79%, which is an almost 50% increase over 2009 numbers. Today about one-third (33%) of companies are using VoIP solutions and that number will only continue to grow.

In-Stat contributes this high adoption and cut-over to VoIP to cost savings.  "VoIP adopters have a good understanding of the cost savings associated with VoIP, and have oriented their limited budgets to optimizing efficiency and savings by replacing legacy TDM voice solutions,” said David Lemelin, In-Stat analyst, in the release.  Broadband IP Telephony revenue will also double by 2013, In-Stat said, fueled by single user applications as well as the mobile workforce.

While cost savings are a great benefit of VoIP, in time adopters will come to realize the other richer benefits of this technology such as high-fidelity (HD) voice, presence, unified communications, and greater subscriber control and mobility, which will only fuel its adoption.

On the heels of Apple’s release of their iPad device, we are now learning that despite AT&T’s announcement back in October, Apple has revised its SDK to allow VoIP calls over the data network. Support for VoIP over the data network is a significant change from Apple’s previous agreement with AT&T, which only allowed VoIP communications over a Wi-Fi connection. This exciting departure from Apple’s previous position now allows VoIP calling applications to expand beyond a Wi-Fi only connection and into the 3G cloud. It appears that pressure from the FCC over net neutrality may have contributed to AT&T’s decision to change its policy and open up the 3G network for VoIP based calling applications.

So what does this mean to the consumer? Applications like Skype, iCall, Fring and other third party applications, which are available for free download on the App Store, now have greater reach and utility beyond the Wi-Fi network. Many of these applications offer free, low cost, and even ad-sponsored calling plans giving the mobile consumer greater choice and selection for local and long distance calling by allowing voice calls to take place on the data network rather than the metered voice network.

With AT&T’s data network already saturated in areas like San Francisco and New York, this change will certainly drive data consumption. Perhaps AT&T could use some of their recently reported US$3 billion in net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 (up nearly 26 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008) to help improve their network as our appetite for mobile data will only continue to grow.