• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Vonage - Currently Have the Largest Number of Wireless VoIP Subscribers in the US

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 March 2006, 12:00 CST

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c33740) has announced the addition of The Market For Wireless VoIP to their offering.

The 1st Edition of "The Market For Wireless VoIP" is a comprehensive 100-page overview of the Wireless VoIP business. The report provides a concise look at the forces driving wireless VoIP, its market potential, and the major players in the industry.

The Market for Wireless VoIP answers key questions about the market:

-- What is wireless VoIP, how does it work, and what does the future hold for the technology?

-- How has the success of VoIP and Wireless networking set the stage for Wireless VoIP?

-- What factors are driving the success of wireless VoIP?

-- What challenges need to be overcome for the successful development of the market?

-- What business models, market segments, and pricing options are being pursued?

-- Which technology providers, handset providers, and service providers are most active in the market?

-- How are real world organizations using wireless VoIP to cut costs, improve productivity, and provide better service?

Topics Covered

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTING WIRELESS VOIP

BUSINESS DRIVERS

BARRIERS TO SUCCESS

THE BUSINESS OF WIRELESS VOIP

WVOIP TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS

WVOIP HANDSET PROVIDERS

WVOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS

WVOIP IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDIES

GLOSSARY

Summary

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the routing of voice conversations over a network using a data-oriented protocol known as Internet Protocol (IP). The voice data flows over a general purpose packet-switched network, instead of traditional dedicated, circuit-switched voice transmission lines. VoIP can deployed on any IP network ranging from a Local Area Network (LAN) to the global Internet.

In its simplest form, VoIP involves using freely available software on a computer to make a call to a similarly-equipped computer. As it involves no telephone company, no additional equipment, and no additional cost, other than an existing internet connect, this service essentially allows free, unlimited phone calls to anywhere in the world. However, requiring a computer-to-computer connection running pre-loaded software severely limits the potential market for VoIP. This fact has led to the development of VoIP service providers who provide users with a VoIP router that connects calls from the internet to existing phones, allowing users to make phone-to-phone calls using VoIP. The VoIP service provider also receives the call at the destination end and converts it on to the public switched telephone network to be connected to the called party's phone. While this service is not free, it is significantly less expensive than traditional circuit-switched telephone options.

The ability to make phone-to-phone calls has significantly expanded the market for VoIP, with it reaching 3.6 million subscribers nationwide in 2005, according to TeleGeography Research. While, VoIP is dwarfed by the 93 million residential lines that traditional phone companies have, its use is growing exponentially, as IDC expects North American residential subscribers will grow to 27 million by the end of 2009. The company with the biggest number of U.S. subscribers is currently Vonage, which has 1 million customers.

Customers are adopting VoIP not just because it offers enormous consumer savings, but because it also provides innovative new features such as the ability to access voicemail from e-mail, to conference large groups together, to select which area code a telephone will use, and to use a phone anywhere there is an Internet connection. In fact, once converted into IP, voice can be integrated with any number of software and data applications.

As a result, VoIP providers and start-ups are entering the Internet Telephony market at unprecedented rates. In fact, almost every major telecommunications provider now has plans to introduce VoIP service to take advantage of the technology's lower costs, its capacity to deliver new innovative services, and ability to compete in the local phone market.

At the same time that VoIP has been growing and becoming mainstream, so has another technology - wireless networking. A wireless local area network (WLAN) uses radio waves as its carrier to connect a computer network. WLANs commonly use a technology standard referred to as IEEE 802.11, more commonly known as Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi, short for "Wireless Fidelity", was intended to allow mobile devices, such as laptop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), to connect to local area networks.

Propelled by the IEEE standards, wireless networking's popularity, in the form of Wi-Fi, has taken off with the growth of high-speed broadband Internet access in the business and home. The ease with which users could connect to high-speed networks at work or home, has given rise to a demand for similar high-speed networks while on the road - Public Wireless Local Area Networks (PWLAN) - more commonly referred to as Public Wi-Fi.

The low cost of entry for Wi-Fi networks and the ease with which establishments can install them has helped spur their adoption in areas frequented by business travelers and, increasingly, in spaces frequented by the general public. They can be found everywhere from waiting areas in international airports to convention facilities in world-wide hotel chains to fast food restaurants in California and recreational vehicle (RV) parks. Now that users have become familiar with using Wi-Fi for their data needs, many want to be able to use this convenient, economic service for their voice needs also.

Companies Mentioned

- Aruba Wireless Networks - Broadcom - Cisco Systems - Flarion Technologies - Meru Networks - Motorola - Nokia - Nortel - Nuera Communications - Persona Software - Symbol Technologies - Texas Instruments - UTStarcom - Vocera Communications - Zultys Technologies - Calypso Wireless - Cisco - Hop-on - HP - LG - Motorola - Net2Phone - Netgear - Nortel - NTT DoCoMo - Research In Motion - Siemens - Sony Ericsson - SpectraLink - UTStarcom - Vocera- ZyXel - BroadVoice- Call Wave - Ecuity Advanced Communications - IDT - Net2Phone - Skype - Talktelecom - Viper Networks - Vonage - Wayport - BJ's Wholesale Club - Dartmouth College - Erlanger Health System - Indiana Heart Hospital - Langham Place Hotel - Mercy Medical Center - MetroHealth - St. John's Hospital - UC Davis Medical Center - USC University Hospital

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c33740

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category