VoIP service Skype saw strong gains in 2009 as more users want to make international phone calls at lower prices than currently offered by traditional phone service providers.
"The volume of traffic routed via Skype is tremendous," said Stephan Becckert, TeleVeography analyst. "Skype is now the largest provider of cross border communications in the world, by far."
International voice traffic is expected to grow just 7 to 8 percent each year from 2009 to 2011, according to TeleGeography. The VoIP company now has more than 500 million registered users spread across the world, and has continually evolved as additional competitors enter the market.
International telephone use has grown 15 percent each year over the past 25 years, but has seen a bit of a drop off due to the economy.
"Demand for international voice has been remarkably robust, but it's clearly not recession-proof," Beckert added, noting international phone growth increased just 7-to-8 percent over the past few years.
Expect Skype use to continue even higher in airports, large conferences, and other locations where Wi-Fi is readily available -- the ability to communicate with family and friends overseas from any location with Wi-Fi is fantastic. I recently used Skype to make several international calls while waiting for a flight to Las Vegas, with two people sitting next to me also using the program.
Skype-to-Skype use also is exploding in popularity among users, with 60% growth in 2009, with the number expected to increase this year. In 2008, Skype users making international calls logged 54 billion minutes, while in 2008 the number was just 33 billion.
Skype must now continue to attract new users while dealing with competitors offering similar VoIP services to consumers. As showcased at this year's CES, embedding Skype directly into new HDTV's should help continue the service's growth into the mainstream market.
