Mobile VoIP and IM traffic continued to explode in the second half of 2011, growing by an astounding 114 percent, according to a new report from Allot (News 
- Alert) Communications.
The more than two-fold increase in VoIP traffic made it the fastest growing mobile application type on the market in the latter half of the year, followed distantly by video streaming with an 88 percent growth rate.
However, unlike VoIP, video streaming dominated total broadband usage with a 42 percent share of total bandwidth. Unsurprisingly, YouTube (News - Alert) accounted for the vast majority of video streaming and nearly one-fourth of total bandwidth.
The increased reliance on VoIP seems to coincide with the dwindling demand for SMS messaging and international calling services, which were formerly major sources of revenue for mobile operators. With free VoIP and IM at their fingertips, consumers are actively avoiding paid services like SMS and international calling.
"The phenomenal growth of OTT VoIP and IM represents both a challenge and an opportunity for mobile operators," said Andrei Elefant, Allot's vice president of Marketing and Product Management at Allot Communications (News - Alert). "Intelligent, application-based data pricing is the way forward for operators, allowing them to maximize data revenues based on its true value to subscribers."
Although the demand for VoIP services has been rough on some traditional service providers, it has helped open up new revenue streams for telecom equipment manufacturers and VoIP app and device makers.
Overall, VoIP IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) equipment revenue increased by nearly 16 percent in Q4 of 2011 compared to the previous quarter, according to Infonetics. The market for global carrier VoIP and IMS equipment is expected to grow to $3.8 billion by 2016.
The growth of VoIP services has been aided particularly by booming demand in the enterprise and SMB space. This was well-showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which just wrapped up last month.
A number of device makers showed off new VoIP handsets designed with businesses in mind, including a new system from Ooma and Invoxia's first ever VoIP system, the NVX 610.
TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) was in Las Vegas and had an opportunity to interview Invoxia's managing director Serge Renouard about the new VoIP phone. Check out the interview below for an insider's look.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
