U.S. Residential VoIP to Exceed $1bn in 2005

Although the technology behind Voice-over-IP has existed for well over a decade, only recently has VoIP been capable of replacing the home phone service of residential customers. The result has been stunning growth: U.S. residential subscriber totals have jumped from 150,000 at the end of 2003 to well over 2 million as of March 2005. According to preliminary findings from TeleGeography's latest research, total subscribers in the U.S. should exceed 4.1 million by year end, generating over $1bn in gross revenues for the year.

As of today, the largest provider of home VoIP service has been Vonage, which entered the market early but does not own a communications network of its own.