Mobile VoIP Calls = 470 Billion Minutes in 2015: Juniper             

By: Prashanth Shantharam       

 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls carried over 3G and 4G networks would skyrocket from 15 billion minutes currently to 470.6 billion minutes in five years time, says Juniper Research. Developed economies with faster networks would fuel this growth with the U.S contributing 135 billion mobile VoIP minutes in 2015. This is a follow up to Juniper’s recent report that predicted 100 million VoIP users by 2012.

Currently, VoIP over Wi-Fi is costing mobile operators heavily. Anthony Cox, senior analyst at Juniper Research explains

“We forecast that mobile VoIP over Wi-Fi will cost operators $5 billion globally by 2015, Wi-Fi mobile VoIP is potentially the most damaging of all VoIP traffic as it bypa**** the mobile networks altogether.”

Mobile VoiP over Wi-Fi typically earns no revenues to the carrier and is making them re-look at their VoIP strategy. Juniper foresees more deals between carriers and mobile VoIP players in the future as revenues from the conventional circuit switched calls would gradually decline in the next five years.

“Even though a major operator, 3UK, touts the benefits of mobile VoIP, it will take some time for many operators, particularly in emerging markets, to accept it, since it represents loss of control over their own networks,” says Cox.

Juniper goes onto state that the ‘market opportunity for hi-def voice and advertising-based mobile voice services will be limited for the foreseeable future’.