Is Skype Taking Over VoIP In North America??
If the news from broadband management company Sandvine is any
indication...the answer is yes. At least for residential anyway.
Calls using Skype account for nearly half of the VOIP minutes
used (46.2%) and about 40% of the VOIP bandwidth used in North
America, according to an analysis done by Sandvine. That puts
Skype usage ahead of Vonage, Cablevision, and other popular
branded residential VOIP offerings. In fact, Sandvine says Skype
users account for 35.8% of individual VOIP callers on North
American networks.
Now again....look deeper. That's residential users......not
business. Skype can't deliver the capability, capacity, and
reliability businesses require. Plus residential Skype users are
tied to a PC and headset arrangement. Businesses balk at that
restriction. So Skype is still a nice alternative for the
regular Joe....for now.
Skype is all about getting users hooked on the free part and
then charging for additional services like SkypeOut and video
conferencing. Also....Skype says it themselves, they are not a
replacement for your home telephone -- they are an ancillary
communication service.
Skype's master plan is to eventually begin licensing the Skype
software to handset manufacturers around the world. So while
Skype may be a threat to VOIP companies and wireline carriers
now, it could evolve into a threat for mobile service providers
too. Hmmmmm......the future looks to be very interesting.