The
adoption of over-the-top (OTT) mobile VoIP services is growing rapidly but it
is not without challenges, according to Infonetics Research.
With
free applications and extremely low revenue from users, it is tricky for
application providers without the deep pockets of larger companies like Google,
Microsoft, and Telefónica to have a sustainable long-term business model.
Despite
the fact that we expect mobile VoIP subscribers to grow nearly 10-fold from
2010 to 2015, there is relatively little money to be made from it in the near
term,” said Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics
Research.
As
LTE becomes the universal mobile infrastructure, TDM voice — which is a $500
billion-a-year business — will migrate to VoLTE (native mobile VoIP).
In
the near term, though, two key challenges need to be addressed: the world needs
widely available LTE handsets that support VoLTE — and we’re nowhere near that
stage — and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) needs to be finalized
so that voice calls work seamlessly between LTE and legacy networks.
OTT
providers, led by frontrunner Skype, dominate the worldwide mobile VoIP
services market.
The
number of mobile VoIP subscribers to grow from 47 million in 2010 to almost 410
million by 2015, driven by increased smartphone and mobile broadband adoption.
Native
mobile VoIP will launch with Verizon’s VoLTE service in 2012, but will remain
an extremely small portion of the total mobile VoIP market until there is full
LTE coverage around the world, not likely until around 2020
In
2010, operators made on average only $13.21 per user per year from mobile VoIP
services, demonstrating how little revenue there is to be made from OTT mVoIP
services.
By
Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com