Asia-Pacific region is set to become the biggest mobile VoIP market, which will be worth $35.2 billion (€25.9 billion) by the end of 2013.
Research firm In-Stat predicts that the global user population will reach 288 million by that time, with less than one-third using mobile VoIP via mobile operators.
Instead, most will use online mobile VoIP providers and apps such as Skype, said In-Stat analyst Frank Dickson, who describes them as a “direct threat” to operator voice revenue.
He said operators were learning how to balance “new opportunity with the threat,” but the near-term opportunity was linked with the growing popularity of dual-mode phones and other Wi-Fi connected devices.
More than 400 million dual-mode (Wi-Fi + cellular) devices will ship in 2013, In-Stat predicts.