Cable driving VoIP subscriber growth

Widespread availability of cable broadband is fueling a hosted telephony explosion in North American, according to research released today.

Worldwide VoIP revenues are projected to reach $10.4 billion in 2007, of which two-thirds originates in the US and Canada.

The statistics, compiled by In-Stat, suggest that growth is being driven by cable television operators.

Mike Paxton, an In-Stat analyst, said that "in a growing number of markets around the world, cable TV operators consider telephony service to be an integral part of their telecommunications service bundle".

Mr Paxton said that this "has led to increasing service availability in North America, Europe, and in a few countries in Asia."

The company describes widespread use of cable-based telephony as a "relatively recent phenomenon" and reveals that "42 per cent of all US cable telephony subscribers signed up for the service during the past 12 months".

Conventional phone providers may be beginning to feel the heat.

Digital Home also reported this week that 1.2 million Canadians now use one of the country's four biggest cable providers.

The largest of these, Videotron, now has 400,000 VoIP subscribers.