VoIP continues to grow

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) revenues are set to continue their upwards trend despite increasing gloom over the state of the global economy, according to an industry expert.

Sarika Patel, head of technology at Grant Thornton, told Comms-Dealer that she expects the sector to attract significant interest as revenues surge to £13.5 billion in 2010.

She said: "[Large telecommunications firms] will be looking at the smaller players as acquisition targets in order to develop the business model and IP necessary to grab a strong foothold in this market."

Recent research by iLocus suggests that overall VoIP traffic experienced a 35 per cent rise last year, while the number of VoIP access server licenses sold globally increased by 67 per cent.

There are currently around 450,000 paying mobile VoIP subscribers worldwide, which is predicted to reach 2.4 million by the end of the year before rising further to 26.6 million in 2012.