'Increased competition' set to drive VoIP services market

The VoIP service market is set to rapidly expand over the next five years as competition increases in the sector, according to new research.

A new report by ABI Research has revealed that the Unified Communications industry, which includes VoIP solutions, will be worth $4.8 billion (£2.95 million) by 2015.

Companies are expected to significantly increase their investment in IP telephony solutions as they look to cut communication costs, according to the study.

Dan Shey, ABI Research's practice director, said: "Hosted VoIP is a 'safe investment' and offers flexibility for businesses in a slow, uncertain economic recovery.

"Consequently, hosted IP PBX services are expected to finish the year with a 15.3 per cent increase in revenue to $3.4 billion, worldwide. Besides North America, Asia-Pacific will also be aggressive with hosted VoIP deployments."

An estimated 35 million IP lines are expected to be shipped worldwide by the end of 2010.