If you wondered why the MSO’s (multiple system operators) in cable are jumping onto the rollout bandwagon for VoIP, just read this from Multichannel News.
BRIEFING ROOM
FCC: High-Speed Subs Tripled Since ’01
(excerpted from the 9/13/04 edition of Multichannel News )Subscriptions to high-speed data service in the United States nearly tripled from June 2001 to December 2003, the FCC said in a report released last week.
The said U.S. broadband penetration jumped from 9.6 million in June 2001 to 28.2 million in December 2003.
As of December 2003, the agency added, cable operators had 75.3% of high-speed lines, phone companies using digital subscriber line had 14.9% and other technologies had 9.8%.
Between June 2001 and December 2003, penetration of advanced broadband (based on data speeds of at least 200 Kbps in both directions) nearly tripled, rising from 5.9 million to 20.3 million.
The agency said cable had 58% (11.7 million) of the advanced-broadband market, while DSL providers had 34% (6.9 million).
According to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, cable serves 17.3 million cable-modem subscribers and have made the service available to 95 million homes.
The FCC also found that the number of communities without any broadband subscribers had declined. In June 2001, 22.2 percent of U.S. postal ZIP codes had no broadband subscribers. By December 2003, the figure dropped to 6.8%.
Andy says–95 million homes passed, all of whom likely already have telephone service. 17 million with cable. Figure a ten percent conversion rate to VoIP in the first 18 months, that’s 1.7 to two million users by sometime next year, which @ $20.00 a month makes it a 800 million dollar a year business for the companies like AT&T, Vonage, AOL, Earthlink to go after as well as the cable companies to upsell and retain the filling from the pie, not just take a slice.