French companies are the largest VoIP providers in Western Europe

Released on: January 30, 2008, 12:34 am

Press Release Author: Aileen Brucal

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: Orange had 3.57 million VoIP customers in these four
countries at June- 2007 (it has also 71 000 VoIP subscribers in Poland) and is thus
clearly the largest VoIP provider in Western Europe with an estimated 14% market
share.

Press Release Body: According to InfoCom's most recent report on VoIP retail
consumer offers, the three largest VoIP providers in Western Europe are Orange, Neuf
Cegetel and Free. All three are French providers whereby Orange, with its Livebox,
is also active in the Netherlands, Spain and the UK in addition to France. All in
all Orange had 3.57 million VoIP customers in these four countries at June- 2007 (it
has also 71 000 VoIP subscribers in Poland) and is thus clearly the largest VoIP
provider in Western Europe with an estimated 14% market share. Neuf Cegetel and Free
(Iliad group) are then clearly the number two and three, followed by BT and United
Internet. All main providers are basing their VoIP service mainly on DSL rather than
on cable modem.

Please visit http://www.infocom-de.com/pressarchives/press_300108.html in order to
see the graph.

The other main pan-European players are also the most widely known international
providers, namely Skype (with SkypeOut and SkypeIN the two Skype services enabling
access to and from PSTN), or else MSN or Yahoo! in combination with their messaging
services. However, their core VoIP services are only PC-to-PC services, i.e. access
to and from the PSTN is either not possible or limited, and generally consumers do
not use Skype, Google or MSN VoIP services as their main phone line in place of
their traditional telephone line.

The number of VoIP providers varies widely, depending of course on the overall size
of a country in Western Europe. from only about 7 providers in Greece to 100 or so
in the UK. 5 incumbents do not offer any VoIP service for residential customers
whereby Telefónica in Spain has stopped marketing its VoIP service actively but
still service its existing customers. Sonera in Finland had also for some time
stopped the marketing of its service although a re-launch happened in October 2007.
It is worth noting that in both cases the VoIP offer has the same communication
prices as standard PSTN offers and indeed is competing against PSTN tariff options
(flat rate or other) which could be seen as more advantageous. The success of
Telefónica and Sonera VoIP offers has thus been limited so far.

About the Report: VOIP CONSUMER RETAIL OFFERS - A STUDY FOR WESTERN EUROPE A
TELESEEQ REPORT - JANUARY 2008 is one of the latest InfoCom's reports. With nearly
150 pages, the study illustrates the existing regulation, the main providers, with
their market share, the service offers, with pricing benchmarking, usage development
and market drivers and obstacles, with potential assessment and forecasts.
VOIP CONSUMER RETAIL OFFERS is only one of several Reports that InfoCom provides. To
know more, please contact us.

About InfoCom
InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with more than 20 years
experience providing strategic analyses and planning assistance to stakeholders in
the telecommunications, IT and multimedia industries. InfoCom's independent and
fact-based analyses highlight trends and opportunities, supporting decision makers
to understand market dynamics in order to improve their competitive advantage.
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Web Site: http://infocom-de.com

Contact Details: InfoCom GmbH, Rotebuehlplatz 21, 70178 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone: +49 711 870510-39
Fax: +49 711 870510-10
Website: http://www.infocom-de.com,

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