Voice telephony research from Sound Partners

We help you understand the opportunities for further growth in voice telephony, and the impact of fixed-mobile substitution. Learn from successful operators that are growing voice ARPU and understand the commercial impact of wireless VoIP.

Voice telephony generates by far the greatest proportion of mobile operator revenue, and the revenue prospects for mobile operators are heavily influenced by the future of mobile voice telephony. We track fixed-mobile substitution, in terms of both traffic migration (as voice calls migrate from fixed to mobile services) and line substitution (as households and businesses dispense with their fixed-line voice services).

Voice traffic continues to migrate rapidly from fixed to mobile services

The report The Acceleration of Fixed-Mobile Substitution in Western Europe: facts and figures gets to grip with the latest state of fixed-mobile substitution in Western Europe. It provides analysis of data for Western Europe as a whole, as well as for individual countries and operators, to determine the overall extent of FMS and the degree to which operators can, and are, influencing the outcome. Case studies of individual mobile operators are presented to illustrate how they have managed to make the most of FMS, by achieving strong usage growth without sacrificing pricing.

It is important to understand the causes and effects of fixed-mobile substitution

FMS is happening much more rapidly than many realise, with a significant impact on fixed and mobile traffic levels and revenue. However, there are substantial differences between countries. The report Fixed–Mobile Substitution in Western Europe: causes and effects determines the root causes of FMS, and presents a wide range of key metrics over a two-year period, including: the proportion of households that are mobile-only; the proportion of voice traffic originating on a mobile network; voice usage per capita; voice spend per capita; fixed and mobile voice spend per minute; and the price premium of mobile voice over fixed voice.

Wireless VoIP will overtake fixed VoIP

There is growing interest in delivering VoIP services over a range of wireless technologies (including 3G, WLAN and WiMAX). However, there is substantial uncertainty over the extent to which it will be adopted and the impact it will have on the usage and revenue of voice services in general. The report Forecasting the commercial impact of Wireless VoIP in Western Europe and the USA cuts through the hype surrounding wireless VoIP to quantify its real impact on the overall voice market. It shows that, after a slow start, wireless VoIP will overtake fixed VoIP in terms of both traffic volumes and revenue.