Looking for Usage Numbers

I'm looking for US numbers for VoIP minutes. I'm comparing standard telecom (TDM) to VoIP but I can't find minutes!
Specifically:
How many Voice minutes does a typical VoIP customer use? Are they high end users or low end users looking for a cheap alterative? I'm curious about how VoIP minutes have cannibalized the PSTN voice providers.
I know this is vague but I can't find anything at all published specifically about minutes.
Thanks!
Ray

Welcome to VoIP User Ray.

You might be able to piece some information together from the internet, but the reality is VoSP's and telcos keep that information confidential because it's of commercial value and used in calculating consumer offerings and bundles.

Is there something very specific that you're after ?

When thinking of investing, I'm not quite sure whether to go with wireless or voice. People are still talking; they just aren't using the same methods anymore. I'd love to know how a Long distance minute has changed (what % went wireless vs. VoIP, etc).
But more specifically VoIP users would seem to be technology adopters. I wonder if they are heavy voice users. Its seems strange that there are almost no industry numbers published about VoIP minutes.
Maybe not - I don't know the VoIP industry that well.
Why is there such a value placed on such information?
Thanks much for the prompt response.
Ray

Quote:

Why is there such a value placed on such information?

Probably because this is 'hard won' information. Many new companies try a mix of products before selecting what works and what makes them money. Ask any supermarket chain for a copy of their footfall, socio demograpics and key product sales values and see what they say.

The companies that get it right stay around the ones that don't quickly disappear. Hence the value

Quote:

Probably because this is 'hard won' information.

Exactly, and it's of huge commercial value because the hard win is in millions of pounds spent getting it wrong.

Quote:

I'd love to know how a Long distance minute has changed (what % went wireless vs. VoIP, etc).

You'll never get accurate information. You can get a gut feel however. Skype is the only VoIP operator currently of any significance (if you look at pure VoIP - eg, the customer knows that the call is somehow being routed differently). Skype have 420m customers and now route 8% of the Worlds international minutes:-

Quote:

Skype handled 33 billion cross-border minutes during 2008, a jump of 41 per cent against an industry that increased traffic by twelve per cent to 384 billion minutes, according to TeleGeography's annual report.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/25/skype_biggest/

You could probably chart these statistics and get a broad brush view, but you'd need to bear in mind you're only tracking a single operator (even if it's significantly more massive than all of the rest put together).