Cable VoIP Set to Skyrocket

What would the industry do without bullish surveys? Suffer more, we're sure.
Our friends at IDC have unleashed a new one. Seems the US market for VoIP-by-cable is set to mushroom from 2.2 million last year to 19.8 million by 2009, or, a nine-fold increase.

That's if they get their gameplan right, and take into account the shifting standards landscape.

Right now, the MSOs have adopted the PacketCable architecture and standard, and the emergence of IP multimedia subsystems (IMS) could throw a spanner into MSO VoIP plans.

So the challenge is for PacketCable to embrace IMS, so as to take advantage of SIPs multimedia potential.

In summary, big market opportunity, and the challenges of getting a homegrown standard to get with what's happening in the broader IP universe. Our take? Given how cable companies have long considered their networks as a walled garden, the cultural barriers to adopting IMS will likely be stiff. Then again, a 9x increase in audience is a lot to leave on the table.