China is the world's most energetic and exciting country at this stage. Their GDP is rising at a massive speed and they are growing in every sector you can dream off. So why not VOIP? Have you ever wondered whats happening in China when the whole world is buzzing with VOIP startups.
China is no different. The asian monster has already made a kill in financial and manufacturing sector and is all set to become the world's largest VOIP nation by 2020 (my prediction). China at this stage is dependent on traditional PSTN lines which are costly to maintain and run. Of course, no telco a fool to subsidise the price. Eventually it gets passed to the end users, consumers. The only cost effective alternative to this is VOIP. Maybe it be a business or home phone, VOIP will soon dragonise china.
According to recent surveys, Broadband VoIP subscribers who get their service from telecom carriers are estimated to number 9.53 million by the end of 2011, up from 720,000 in 2006. That will be a huge leap for china in VOIP, however there is more to go. China will probably adapt to VOIP faster than their asian counterparts such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia etc. Most of the indian sub-continent is lagging behind the scene due to stupid regulations in place. I had written a interesting article about VOIP in Indian Sub-contient.
Of course, at the same time being such a big nation, regulating VOIP will be far more difficult. We can also expect a seperate cell/ministry for this business activity in China. The possible issues in reaching VOIP to masses can be the illegal VOIP operators. It will be difficult for a country with such a huge population to keep track of small time illegal operators, especially when a VOIP conferencing service can be setup in a small room with a couple of devices. Its a child game these days. Ever wondered why Bangladesh had mushrooming illegal VOIP providers?
Research report predict, "Almost 13 million people in China will be paying to use unlicensed local internet phone services within four years".
The possible quick growth can be seen in PC to Phone software or services. In fact, Skype is getting equally popular in China with more than 25 million downloads. Although, Skype has tested a bitter fruit when they were blocked in China in 2005 by using NetSpective® M-Class Solution, SkypeFiltering. Although, its now being used widely in China. They can expect another smashing anytime from the government especially china telecom. Skype is now distributed by China-based provider TOM Online. There is also an allegation that TOM online does a content filtering for text messages being sent via Skype-Tom, a joint venture.
Whatever maybe the hurdles, I can blindly predict that the DRAGON will feast on VOIP by 2020 and its the next big market to look for espcially companies in Europe such as Jajah.
Do you share my views? Do let me know, Post comments.
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