IP telephony replacing landlines, research suggests

Posted by Jessie Richards

VoIP is rapidly replacing traditional phone services as the communication tool of choice for business, IT outsourcing users have heard.

Recent research from communications markets insight company TeleGeography showed that international telephone traffic growth has fallen from a compounded annual rate of 15 per cent to eight per cent in the past two years.

The report claimed that the recession has had a significant impact on the traditional phone industry, with many users choosing to use alternative services such as VoIP and Skype for mobile devices.

Commenting on the findings, Patrick Christian, senior analyst at TeleGeography, told IT outsourcing users: "The economy's effect is temporary; a more permanent threat to international carriers is computer-based voice services siphoning away traffic."

He also said that the total volume of international phone traffic from all conventional careers is thought to have grown by around 30 billion minutes in 2009, compared to the rise of 21 billion minutes seen by VoIP alone.