3G will give new lease of life to VoIP industry

According to market research firm Ovum, there are approximately 32 ISPs offering VoIP services in India (as of December 2009). It is estimated that there are about 3.5 million Internet VoIP users (who utilize general VoIP services over PC), as of December 2009. However, dedicated VoIP subscriber numbers stand at mere 113,000 for the same period.

Moreover, the total voice traffic going over IP is valued at $700 million, currently. However, not all of this traffic is end-to-end VoIP, as many carriers use IP for backhaul or in the carrier phase also, finds Reve Systems, a mobile VoIP provider.

Over the years, although the Department of Telecom (DoT) had eased its restrictions over VoIP and its usage, it is still very skeptical over its usage in the domestic market. Today, apart from IP to IP calls, only ILD calls are possible over VoIP in India.