IP phone revenues 'set to double' by 2012

Revenues from the sales of internet protocol (IP)-enabled phones are expected to double over the next five years, reaching just over $6 billion (£3.02 billion) by 2012, an industry expert has said.

Shipments of IP phones are also expected to grow by 25 per cent over the same period.

The predictions come in a five-year forecast for the IP telephony business sector from industry analyst Dell'Oro Group.

Alan Weckdel, a senior analyst with the group, said the majority of future growth will be generated by new features becoming more integrated into IP desk phones. As this happens, he said, the cost of adding features such as larger colour displays, touch screens and video over internet protocol (VoIP) will drop while more customers will expect them as standard.

Mr Weckel also predicted that a growth in voice-ready local area networks would further support the expansion of IP telephony.

"By 2012, there will be enough infrastructure in place to support VoIP to every enterprise desktop," he said.

The Dell'Oro Group is market research company focusing on the telecommunications nad network industries. It is based in Silicon Valley, California.