The Netherlands to show the highest VoIP penetration of nearly 70%
Stuttgart, Germany  6th February 2008  The number of residential broadband connections (including fibre optic connections of the FTTx family) will reach 121 million in Western Europe, i.e. a growth of 88% over June 2007, and will thus mean a household penetration of 68%. InfoCom estimates that 73% of these residential broadband connections will also support a VoIP subscription meaning 87.8 million VoIP subscriptions, i.e. a household penetration of 50%. 87.8 million VoIP subscriptions represent 240% growth over the 25.8 million VoIP subscriptions estimated for June 2007. The results derive from InfoCom’s latest VoIP study on 16 Western European countries.ÂÂÂ
From a geographical point of view, some countries where VoIP is currently not very developed, e.g. Greece or Spain, will outpace others, which are already familiar with the service. Other countries, such as France and the Netherlands will not grow quite as fast. The Netherlands might just take over France as the leading VoIP country, at least in terms of penetration, on the strength of its broadband market and the intense competition between the triple play offers of the cable operators and of KPN or other DSL providers. Germany, thanks to bitstream, naked DSL and finally some increasing competition from cable operators should also go.
InfoCom thinks VoIP is still in the early adopter phase in most countries in Western Europe, although it could be argued, with for instance 33% and 32% household penetration in France and the Netherlands, that it has now passed this stage in some countries and is now entering the mass market. Some recent developments speak rather in favour of VoIP. The attraction of broadband Internet in the first place, with VoIP often bundled with it, most often both with flat rates, should ensure a steady development of VoIP services. So, all in all InfoCom is fairly optimistic about the development of VoIP as illustrated in the forecasts.
About the Report: VOIP CONSUMER RETAIL OFFERS  A STUDY FOR WESTERN EUROPE A TELESEEQ REPORT  JANUARY 2008 is one of the latest InfoCom’s reports. With nearly 150 pages, the study illustrates the existing regulation, the main providers, with their market share, the service offers, with pricing benchmarking, usage development and market drivers and obstacles, with potential assessment and forecasts.
VOIP CONSUMER RETAIL OFFERS  A STUDY FOR WESTERN EUROPE A TELESEEQ REPORT is only one of several reports that InfoCom provides. To know more, please contact us.
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InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with 20 years experience providing strategic analyses and planning assistance to stakeholders in the telecommunications, IT and multimedia industries. InfoCom’s independent and fact-based analyses highlight trends and opportunities, supporting decision makers to understand market dynamics in order to improve their competitive advantage.