VoIP Subscribers on the Decline

Hi

Interesting snippet from the recent ofcom report

Quote:

A significant gap remains between the awareness of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and its actual use, with the number of users actually falling in 2008. This indicates that while there remains a core group of consumers of VoIP services, the majority of broadband users are still choosing not to use VoIP, perhaps because of issues over VoIP quality of service or because of competition from low-priced fixed and mobile telecoms services. For example, VoIP is often marketed as a cheap way to make international calls, but as the cost per minute of making international calls over fixed and mobile connections continues to decline, while use continues to grow. With flat rate tariffs and add-ons becoming an increasingly prevalent component of both fixed and mobile tariffs, the incentives to use VoIP services are decreasing.

Ian

Reply from dean on Aug 14, 2008 - 03:29 PM

Quote:

With flat rate tariffs and add-ons becoming an increasingly prevalent component of both fixed and mobile tariffs, the incentives to use VoIP services are decreasing.

That's the reason. Has nothing to do with the technology (the user doesn't actually care what it is).

However, the misleading element is that actually more and more customers are using VoIP, they just don't realise it.

The key factor for VoIP companies using the technology as part of the marketing message is stickiness, and that comes from applications and rich services, not cheap minutes.

Reply from satphoneguy on Aug 15, 2008 - 02:19 AM

amongst my friends there are two group with VOIP interest. the first are my tech minded friends who actually enjoy playing around with technology and VOIP is as much about hobby as anything else. the other group are people who are looking for rock bottom priced calling(mostly international). i read a lot about rich feature sets, etc. but have to be honest that i really do not know many people with interest beyond a bit of a hobby with any of it. and the fact of the matter is that at least in USA and the few European countries that i am familar with the very best deals(likely VOIP in the back end but no one knows or cares about that) are from the discount calling cards available at convenience store not from any SIP providers or other outfits that market themselves as VOIP. at least is you discount the free promo offers that only cover destinations no one is paying much for to begin with(at least not if they have been prudent over the years with how they make phone calls)

Reply from mazilo on Aug 15, 2008 - 03:17 AM

Quote:

For example, VoIP is often marketed as a cheap way to make international calls, but as the cost per minute of making international calls over fixed and mobile connections continues to decline, while use continues to grow.

Here lies the problem: CHEAP and not INEXPENSIVE. When you push something out to the market cheaply, you are definitely selling lemons!

Reply from martyndavies on Aug 15, 2008 - 11:37 AM

In truth the number of VoIP users is greatly increased, because incumbent telcos increasingly carry traffic over IP bearers. Many users will never need to know what VoIP is, because they will continue to use the same pair of wires coming into their house, and yet the call will be completed using VoIP techniques.

Reply from keithw on Aug 15, 2008 - 01:17 PM

further to martyn's point: while voip end points might have declined the underlying reality is that the wave of new services we see on the telco/web2.0 front are largely made possible through IP at the core... in fact, due to more Telco's going IP at the core there is less of a requirement for the end point to be voip enabled.

Reply from tangle on Aug 16, 2008 - 09:58 PM

Those of us in the industry are curious to know where Ofcom got it numbers from. Because it wasn't from those of us in the industry.

Reply from ianplain on Aug 17, 2008 - 10:00 AM

Hi.

I would guess they have got the numbers based upon customer questionnaires. If that is the case then this is good news as it means voip is being accepted by the wider public.

I say this as it means things like the BT and Orange voip solutions for example have been accepted and are being used by people who just assume they are a phone. These users wont know and more importantly wont care that they are Voip. This situation was reached in offices some years ago where users just know they have a phone on their desk and dont care how it works .

By users just accepting they have a phone and not knowing how it works is great step forward as it will move voip out of the early adopters arena to the mainstream.

Ian

Reply from tangle on Aug 17, 2008 - 12:01 PM

It would be interesting to add a question in Ofcom's questionaire aimed at establishing the gap between the consumer's awareness of Time Division Multiplexing and their use of it.......

(But yes, I agree that the faster we can lose the acronym VoIP and replace it with the word 'telephone' the better.)

Reply from ianplain on Aug 17, 2008 - 01:43 PM

Ah

But historicly people didnt know or care. How many people survived on DACS lines or remote concentrators, As far as they knew they had a telephone line.
Same went for users being connected to strowger , Crossbar or Electronic they didnt know. and we need to get voip to the same level of awareness, IE they just dont care! they just plug it in and it works.

Ian

Reply from tangle on Aug 17, 2008 - 03:41 PM

There was an attempt to 'market' Digital when Strowger and crossbar and valve was ripped out and and replaced by System X - and just a dash of Y.

It failed because a) BT couln't market a fatted calf b) it got too greedy as usual and tried to sell simple things like CLI, 1471, 1571 etc instead of giving them to the public as demonstrations of the benefits of the new technology - and, of course, generating lots more call income.

So exchange modernisation passed the customer by - as you say, a phonecall using transistors was exactly the same as one using clockwork.

VoIP needs to get to the point were the customer doesn't know or care about it and also takes for granted all the new bells and whistles. Not far off actually - particularly for business. Consumer is still free calls territory.

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