According to research from In-Stat, the gap in VoIP adoption rates between the U.S. and Europe is growing.  According to In-Stat, more than 14 million Europeans subscribed to VoIP services in 2006, with a total number of 19 million VoIP subscribers in Europe at the end of 2006.  The firm forecast the number of VoIP subscribers to nearly double to 34 million subscribers by the end of 2007.

In contrast, there were only 4 million new VoIP subscribers added in the U.S. during 2006, with a total number of 10.6 million VoIP subscribers.  According to In-Stat, the number of VoIP subscribers is expected to grow by only 50% in the U.S., with a total of 15.9 million VoIP subscribers expected by year's end.

A story posted on the Red Herring web site cites Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala as to the reasons for the lower adoption rates in the United States:

“Where the value proposition for VoIP is simply cost savings, you are never going to see the kind of adoption rates in North America that you see in Europe,” Mr. Kerravala said.

As carriers continue to see decreased revenue from standard telephone offerings, converged services like VoIP and IPTV will provide a path to greater revenue and profit margins.  And, service assurance will provide a method for reducing operational custs and customer churn.

To read the complete story, please visit the Red Herring web site.