Subscribe to RSSSuprising VoIP Penetration numbers for the UK
Voxilla, and several other sources, have referenced a report by Jupiter Research’s Ian Fogg. The report is from last July, but there has been a recent rash of citings making it seem like news.
The links and citings use language like “Skype take up still low among UK consumers” “A mere four per cent” and “Skype adoption is only at four percent.”
Wow. Four percent is HUGE, if you ask me. I don’t have the raw survey data, only what’s been mentioned in the blogs and news citings. They claim the report says “four percent of UK online consumers regularly use Skype” and that “VoIP services are only used by 12 percent of online consumers in the UK.” I don’t know exactly what they mean by “online consumers” but if you told the telco operators in 2002 that by 2006, 4 percent of their customers would be using a weird little IM application on their PCs to make free and cheap phone calls, I don’t think anyone would have taken you seriously.
And 12 percent using VoIP (whatever that may mean in this data). That’s huge too. If you would have told me that 4 percent of consumers use Skype “regularly” (again, whatever that means), I’m not sure I’d believe it. Sure, among my peers and colleagues, there is very high percentage of VoIP users, and a decent percentage of people using Skype semi-regularly. But I would not expect 4 out of 100 people I find on the street to be “regular” Skype users.
And I’m surprised this figure ia being treated as a negative. 12 percent using VoIP, already? Come on folks, that’s a big deal.
4 People have left comments on this post
exceptional Nov 28, 2006 - 03:11:19Here’s a clue where some of that demand might be coming from:
‘One-third of Londoners born outside Britain’
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23374397-details/‘One-third+of+Londoners+born+outside+Britain’/article.do
New York on the left bank of the water, London on the right. Twin cities.
It’s not surprising at all! Take a look at this DIGG item:
http://digg.com/tech_news/UK_Moving_to_Internet_Telephone_system
"Moving to" and "planned to complete in 2008" are terms used to describe vaporware. The "digg" article has nothing to do with the penetration numbers to real customers for products and services available in the marketplace today.
In the UK, IM is common amongst younger people but I would say its with mobile phones where communication is king both with calls and use of the text message. I imagine that Skype take-up is low amongst UK nationals because of the need to download software and then to find someone at the end to download it too. Ok there is Skypeout - but what is the point of buying credit when you will probably have cheap calls on your mobile anyway.
Most of the people I talk to (I’m a UK national) dont seem to have to have heard of VOIP or Skype and probably feel that their communication needs are already covered off anyway.