When I entered the fledgling cable TV industry in 1979, a newly minted college grad, I remember thinking, WOW, everyone should be in this business. Even discounting those ignorance-on-fire days, the feeling of being in an industry poised to take off like cable did is one I'll never forget.
It's the same feeling I have now, marketing the rapidly emerging broadband voice technology VoIP, and creating a vibrant new revenue stream for my business. Only this time, it's not a new product introduction - the residential, landline voice market in the US alone represents hundreds of billions of dollars in existing consumer spending. It's consumer spending previously held captive by a relative thimbleful of companies due to technology and regulatory constraints. Now this market share "deck of cards" has been tossed up in the telecom whirlwind, with enormous opportunities for individuals and small businesses to tap into huge, recurring, monthly income streams.
The market research firm IDC says more than 10 million residential phone customers are now using VoIP services, and it predicts that the number will grow to 44 million in 2010. The Harvard Business Review, in a recent article predicts not only rapid growth for VoIP but also profound, beneficial changes to the way businesses operate, as a result of VoIP deployment. The impetus for such a rapid, mass shift in market share is simple: Lots more features and functions for about half the price the Bells (over)charge for unlimited local & LD.
And it's getting bigger. My company is already marketing VoIP video phones, and flat-rate global calling plans that the big phone companies can only dream about. And we represent the only VoIP provider in the US currently offering VoIP service in Puerto Rico...WITH Puerto Rican phone #s. Also, right around the corner is IPTV, internet-based video entertainment which promises the same market share impact on the cable & satellite TV business.
Here's some of the things being said about VoIP:
"VoIP will irreversibly alter the world of communications. VoIP is the most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications since the invention of the telephone."
-- Michael Powell, Former FCC Chairman, Fortune Magazine - July 2004
"VoIP will be the largest transfer of wealth ever in American business history.
-- Business Week magazine, 2004
"There will be 50 million new subscribers to this service by 2008"
-- Harvard Business Review, September 2005
Want to learn more about VoIP? See how you can drastically reduce or even eliminate your phone bill. Plus, learn how to plug your existing business into, or create a new business around, these exciting new revenue streams, please visit http://www.voipaware.com. For a copy of the Harvard Business Review Article referenced above, please send a request to: 1voipgeorgia@comcast.net.
About the Author: Martin O'Keeffe is the founder & president of iMEDIAbuy, LLC, a telecommuniations consulting firm based in Atlanta, Ga.
