Competition to drive VoIP convergence

The VoIP industry will witness significant consolidation over the next year as providers compete for market share, according to a new report.

Grant Thornton claims that consumers will switch from fixed-line telephony to mobile or VoIP hardware in ever increasing numbers, which in turn will drive convergence as telecommunication and IT firms attempt to capitalise on surging market demand.

The research forecasts that global VoIP revenues will reach £13.5 billion in 2010, with a customer base of over 250 million.

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."

The VoIP customer subscriber has doubled in 2006, with the industry expanded by around 400 per cent over the last two years.

To maintain this impressive growth the report argues that issues over security, service quality and reliability will have to be resolved.