The global broadband telephony market will nearly double in size from 14.7 million subscribers in 2007 to 28.4 million lines in 2013, Jupiter Research predicted.
Cable operators will see most of this increase, with their VoIP subscriber base nearly doubling during the forecast period, while growth for over-the-top VoIP providers will stagnate, the research firm further said.
The emergence of new service offerings, such as those from AT&T and Skype, will continue to generate buzz within the market.
According to a new JupiterResearch report, cable multiple system operators (MSOs) have maintained momentum in the voice service market by continuing to focus on competitive triple-play service bundles.
Of consumers who subscribe to a cable MSO-managed VoIP service, 47% said bundling had a strong influence on their selection of home phone service provider.
'Broadband telephony enables fixed service providers to integrate voice service features with other bundled services such as broadband, TV or wireless. At a time when consumers are increasingly cutting the cord and relying solely on wireless for voice communication, broadband telephony offers the best opportunity for fixed service providers to retain current voice customers or acquire new ones,' David Schatsky, president of JupiterResearch said.
Despite having a moderate impact on the VoIP market overall, the emergence of US carrier AT&T's U-verse Voice is an important market development.