Analyst sees "huge" growth potential for VoIP

The market for business use of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is potentially "huge", an industry analyst has reportedly said.

According to Comms Business, international research firm IDC said in its five-year forecast for the VoIP market in western Europe that the total value of VoIP applications will grow from its 2006 level of $194.8 million (£99.92 million) to around $2.25 billion by 2011.

The market's compound annual growth rate will also reach 63.1 per cent, it said.

Much of the growth will be driven by businesses. The report says it expects more and more enterprises to become interested in VoIP as they seek to boost their competitiveness and efficiency by improving their telecommunications.

Applications predicted to see the biggest growth include unified communications, mobile devices linked to VoIP and IP phones tied in to internet protocol private branch exchanges.

Rogier Mol, senior analyst for European VoIP Infrastructure, commented that although the VoIP sector is still in development, "the growth potential of this market is huge".

IDC is an international consultant and market research firm working in the IT, telecommunications and technology sectors.