
Despite a gloomy economic forecast, the VoIP market will continue to blossom as people look to make savings on their telecoms costs, analyst firm Grant Thornton predicts.
According to new research published by the firm, global VoIP revenue will reach £13.5 billion by 2010, with many companies expected to migrate from fixed-line to mobile and
VoIP products in the coming years.
Increasing consolidation in the industry could sound the death knell for traditional fixed-line telecommunications, the company predicts.
Sarika Patel, head of technology at Grant Thornton, said: "VoIP is no longer next generation telephony, it is here now, and 2008 should see strategic acquisitions of independent software developers and ISPs by large Telcos looking to consolidate their VoIP offerings."
She added that with a fourfold increase in
VoIP subscribers seen in the past two years, the company predicts that the global user base will exceed 250 million in two years.
In other comments recently published by the firm, it has been revealed that retail spending increased by two per cent up to March despite fears of a slowdown in consumer spending.
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