An Internet phone operator’s latest financial filing has set off speculation that Google has begun selling a commercial version of its Internet phone service.

Given Google’s rock star status in the technology world, the potential move is sure to enliven the market for VOIP (voice over IP), which is freely available software to make calls using an Internet connection.

Present day VOIP calls using Google Talk, Google’s instant messaging feature, are free, and largely confined to Internet-connected devices that download Google Talk.

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There are three billion phones on the planet - two billion fixed phones and another billion mobile. The percentage of those utilizing Voice-over-IP technology is so small that it doesn’t show up on the radar. In-Stat research estimates that there were a total of 16 million VoIP subscribers in 2005, and will grow to only 55 million in 2009. A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- 73% of all VoIP subscribers worldwide have migrated to VoIP without making a conscious buying decision to adopt the new technology. - In North America and Canada, cable operators are aggressively expanding their VoIP footprint, but are marketing VoIP as plain old telephone service. - In Asia, South Korea will have the highest VoIP growth rate, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. - In Europe, broadband ISPs, such as Free Telecom (France) and FastWeb (Italy) are leading the way with innovative consumer triple-play service bundles.

Even if you factor in Skype, the numbers are not big enough. But that doesn’t mean VoIP is not disruptive. In order to see its true potential, we need to start looking beyond cheap calls. It is the theme for this week’s Om & Niall PodSessions, where we discuss the ins-and-outs of marrying voice with applications.

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Sandvine Incorporated, world leader in intelligent broadband network management solutions today released new VoIP figures based on data aggregated from its North American and European broadband service provider deployments.

Broadband service provider-branded VoIP rollouts were extremely successful in 2005 and have taken the lead in terms of share of VoIP minutes.

For this study conducted in November and December 2005, aggregate data was collected and analyzed from Sandvine’s North American and European broadband customer networks where Sandvine is deployed. The data highlighted the VoIP traffic trends of more than 700,000 broadband households from a group of service providers with over 6 million subscribers.

The study indicated that North American service provider-branded VoIP represents 53% of all VoIP minutes on broadband networks. Vonage, with 21.7% share of North American minutes and Skype, with a 14.4% share were the leading third-party providers. All other third-party VoIP providers captured the remaining 10.9% share of minutes.

“Broadband provider-branded VoIP is, and will continue to be a key factor in driving revenue growth and triple-play success for service providers,” said Boyd Peterson, Senior Vice President, Media Research, Yankee Group.

In Europe, service provider-branded VoIP represents 51.2% of all VoIP minutes, while Skype follows closely behind with 45% of all VoIP minutes. Vonage takes less than 1% share while other third-party VoIP providers represent 3.5% of all minutes.

In North America, broadband providers that have rolled out network-wide VoIP deployments are now capturing an average of 81.8% of the VoIP minutes on their own networks. In contrast, the market share in minutes for third-party VoIP providers like Vonage and Skype is 12.9% in such competitive environments.

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What happens when audio-blogging (or podcasting) meets Voice over IP? Well, some Asterisk geniuses I know decided to answer that question. (And Phone Boy decided to test those geniuses’ theory.)

Coalescent Systems the creators of the excellent Asterisk Management Portal, a web GUI system for the already legendary Asterisk open source PBX, have introduced a whole new service geared around two of my favorite subjects–VoIP and Podcasting.

The service is called Gabcast. It’s a social broadcasting platform. What does THAT mean, you ask? Well check this out, from the Gabcast FAQ:

Gabcast is an exciting new service that allows people to voice their opinions, stories, etc. for the rest of the world to hear! Once you create an account online, you dial into your Gabcast account from any phone in the world, record an episode, and people all over the globe can listen to your ramblings. Going travelling? It’s a great way to keep friends and family in touch!

So, Gabcast is essentially podcasting-gone-voice blogging, marketed (at least so far) in a manner similar to Blogger or Typepad. But what I find really exciting about Gabcast is just how EASY its creators have made it to create the voice blogs. You can record via your choice of VoIP providers and softphones, or use a traditional telephone to “call in” your voice blogs.

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Just a small heads-up to let you know that if you have a Skype phone, you’ll soon be able to buy any of Warner Music Group’s songs to use as ringtones. Labels include Atlantic, Asylum and Rhino so get ready for your fave Bjork and Black Sabbath songs to ring in your ears. It’s always been a dream, I know. No specific details yet, but we’ll keep you updated.

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Phil Zimmermann, creator of the PGP email encryption system, will soon publicly release the VoIP encryption software he first announced last July at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. (See Encrypting Voice: An Interview with Phil Zimmermann, Creator of PGP.)

The software, dubbed zFone, differs from the encryption system used by Skype, for example, because it doesn’t involve a centrally managed system for handling encryption keys.

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Wow. Earnesty in a telco guy. France Telecom’s Dr. Norman Lewis said yesterday at the E-Tel conference that, if the big telcos don’t get their acts together–and fast–there are going to be major, major problems ahead. I am so glad somebody on the inside of the phone business is finally realizing what’s at stake for the huge telecoms, including AT&T, BellSouth, Verizon, and others. Lewis condemns the investment in 3G infrastructure (to which i would add, where were these folks when WiFi and WiMax became such hot topics?) while blasting the telcos for not innovating. Lewis promised innovations from France Telecom like social networking and APIs.

Hey, big regulated telcos–are you listening? This guy is a sage in your business. You will save your stockholders a lot of disappointment if you start thinking about the stuff Lewis in thinking about. Here’s the rest of the info from the guy, from the E-Tel Blog.

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LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers from Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) warned on Thursday that Internet calling applications like Skype may provide the ideal disguise for hacker attacks.

The Communications Research Network (CRN) of both renowned universities said no attacks had yet been recognized, but “it is only a matter of time before the technique becomes mainstream.”

It had discussed the matter with Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) firms like Skype, it said in a statement.

Luxembourg-headquartered Skype, which has been downloaded on 242 million computers around the world and was acquired by eBay last year, was not immediately available to comment. Cambridge University is based in Britain and MIT in the United States.

The CRN’s working group on Internet Security said it had discovered that VOIP applications could provide excellent cover for launching denial of service attacks.

In such attacks computers are being hijacked by hackers and turned into so-called “zombies” in order to bombard a Web site or e-mail server with page requests or e-mails. The aim of the attack is that the site or entire network collapses under the pressure.

VOIP programs are popular among consumers because they allow free or ultra-cheap phone calls across the globe.

VOIP cuts a voice conversation into digital bits and hackers can use those data streams for cover, making it almost impossible to trace the source of an attack.

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Worldwide Broadband Survey - US Broadband Penetration Breaks 65% Among Active Internet Users - January 2006 Bandwidth Report

At its current growth rate of over 90% per year, China will pass the US in total broadband subscribers by late 2006 to become the largest broadband country in the world. The US has fallen to 19th overall in household broadband penetration, and is in danger of being passed by Slovenia in early 2007. Israel leads all Middle Eastern and African countries, and is the third country overall in broadband penetration. Hong Kong leads the Pacific Rim, with a broadband penetration rate of over 73%. Meanwhile, in December 2005 the US passed 65% in broadband penetration among active Internet users.

China will pass US in Broadband Subscribers by late 2006

The US leads all countries with 42,172,000 total broadband subscribers (29.08% yearly growth), followed by China (28,182,000 subscribers), and Japan (21,056,000 subscribers). However, at its current growth rate of over 90% a year, China should overtake the US in total broadband subcribers by the end of 2006 (see Figure 1). China has a long way to go to match its neighbors in broadband penetration, however. China has a household penetration rate of 8.62% while the overall broadband penetration rate in Hong Kong is over 73%, South Korea is over 67%, and the US is 33.09%, as of Q3 2005.

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A few weeks after Mayor of Paris decided that the city needed a fiber network for universal Internet access, the city of Vienna (Austria) has announced similar plans, according to Heise.de, a German tech news publication. The city will try and get fiber connections to about 960,000 households, and hopes that the work for first 50,000 home pilot will start in February, with likely connections by this summer. The city is said to be in talks with real estate owners, the report says. The network which will be IPv6 ready will be looking to provide one gigabit per second connections. This is a trend started by folks in Amsterdam, and is clearly gaining momentum across Europe. (Hat Tip, Dirk!)

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