VoIP Business and Virtual PBX
Telecommunications

South Korea and USA Leading the VoLTE Charge

­The number of global OTT mobile VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) subscribers more than doubled from 2010to 2011, to 98 million, with about 40% of the subscribers based in EMEA, according to Infonetics Technology.

The first VoLTE services launching in late 2012

With the first VoLTE services launching in late 2012, Infonetics expects thenumber of global VoLTE subscribers to reach about 300,000 this year. AT&Tplans to have VoLTE in place by 2013, and Clearwire announced that it will offerVoLTE when it launches its TD-LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) network by mid-2013

"As a matter of fact, South Korea and Hong Kong have already successfully launchedLTE data roaming and by August, SK Telecom expects to have the Samsung GalaxyS3, the first handset to support VoLTE on their network. This is all good newsfor VoLTE, clearly, nevertheless to put it in perspective, even with the VoLTE marketramping quickly here on out, by 2016 VoLTE will make up only about 14% of globalmobile VoIP revenue, during over-the-top mobile VoIP continues to make up thelion's share out and away."

The report Diane Myers

Co-author of the report Diane Myers, Infonetics Technology's principal analystfor VoIP and IMS, adds: "In the crowded OTT mobile VoIP market, Microsoft/Skypestill dominates; but, during the tight integration of Skype with WindowsMobile 8 is important, the Windows Mobile operating system remains a distantplayer in the smartphone race. In the meantime, independent OTT mVoIP providers likeGoogle Voice, Fring, Line2, Nimbuzz, Talkonaut, ThruTu, and Truphone are workingto differentiate from Skype and operator-driven OTT services just as T-Mobile'sBobsled and Telefónica's TU Me by making their service easier to use, loweringprices, integrating social networking, and adding video features. On the whole, withOTT mVoIP subscribers paying an average of only $14 per year, sustaining an OTTmobile VoIP service is in the extreme challenging, and most providers face dauntingpossibilities: go out of business or sell to a larger organization; or find away to drive revenue beyond cheap calling."

More information: Cellular-news
References:
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    Volte Korea

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    Volte Handsets

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    Korea First Volte

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    South Korea Volte Subscriber

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    Veolte/korea