The number of subscribers to retail VoIP services rose by 83% during 2005, from 10.3 mln at the beginning of 2005 to over 18.7 mln subscribers worldwide by the end of 2005. Point Topic estimated the number of people paying for PC-to-phone calls at 4.7 mln. When combined with the retail VoIP total, this increases the overall VoIP paying subscriber totals to just under 24 mln, compared with 14.4 mln a year previously.
Retail VOIP market | ||
VOIP users, 000 | ||
Region | Q4 2005 | Q4 2004 |
Asia Pac | 8862 | 7071 |
Americas | 4583 | 1389 |
Europe | 5254 | 1864 |
Retail VOIP total | 18699 | 10324 |
Skype, etc | 4730 | 4050 |
Total | 23429 | 14374 |
Source: Point Topic |