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2.7 Million VOIP Subscribers in the United States
prostoalex writes "There are 2.7 million paying VOIP customers in the United States, according to research by TeleGeography. The whole industry will generate $220 million this year, with Vonage leading as far as customer number."
...is how many "unpaying" VoIP there are in the US. I, for one, use services that are free, like Skype, to communicate with friends. Skype does have a payment service, but along with my friends I never need it. We kinda fly under the radar.
I can't imagine that there are just a few of us that use systems like iChat, Skype etc. for voice communication.
Is this still a shortcoming of VOIP? If so, that's a lot of people without a lifeline.
..that you "don't matter", since you're "leeching" and not "generating millions for the industry".. :|
I was one of the early (...early) adopters of voice over IP (...pee) and I think {static} is great (...great).
My hat's off to Vonage (...ojj)
I'm a big tall mofo.
... of the ol' hard wired POTS phone in my kitchen. I hardly ever use it, but it was the only one I had during the blackout here in the northeast a couple years ago. The cell system had power, but getting a line was iffy.
Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
For example, the biggest VOIP company in Japan, Softbank has about 4.4 million VoIP customers. Yes, that's just one of the VOIP companies in Japan. (Source: cabledatacomnews.com)
I'm not here to brag about Japan. I'm sure S. Korea and China have impressive, if not larger numbers of VOIP users.
$220 million / 2.7 million users = $81.48 / year
$81.48 per year / 12 month = $6.79 / month
The average VOIP account only is only $6.79 per month? That doesn't seem right. I have one of the cheaper accounts available ($14.99, VoicePulse), so I am a little skeptical of that number.
From the linked article, Vonage has 750,000 customers. Assuming they are all on the cheapest plan:
750,000 x $14.99 x 12 = 134,910,000
Which would mean for all non-Vonage VOIP customers:
$85 million / 2 million customers / 12 months = $3.54 per month per customer
Given the other players involved (VoicePulse, Voicewing, AT&T, Time Warner), I have a hard time believing that number.
- Tony
Next problem is I moved, and I found a better deal through my phone company. You may want to check and see what deals your current phone provider has before you jump on the VoIP wagon.
VoIP is an excellent solution for people who are on the phone long distance for more than just your usual call to your relatives to check up.
I looked at my useage and already had a cell phone. I must say, in the grand scheme of things that VoIP was not a solution for me any longer.
Canceling Vonage takes close to an act of congress. You have to call their cancellation center (forget that it's only open 7.5 hours a day monday - friday) then you have to sit on hold (forget the fact that it's like any other call center that you wait a fair amount of time on hold) and then you are given a Return number. Also you are given a $40 charge to your credit card. You have to scrounge up the power supply, ata box, phone cord, ethernet cord, and manual. If you're like me and you know that you'd eventually have to return this stuff, you kept all that in a box in the closet. If you don't return everything, you don't get the refund.
I was very impressed with Vonage until the very end in which they would not let me cancel my service until I heard a song and dance and agreed that I didn't want their service any more.
If you have a cell phone with long distance and rarely ever need to make a lengthy long distance phone call, VoIP ain't it.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
"Operator, I'm trying to call my elderly mother, but there seems to be a fault..."
"Sir, you'll have to have your mother run traceroute and then call us back."
"How do I call my mother to tell her and how does she run traceroute?"
"Perhaps you can download the instructions from our website and mail them to her?"