International Telecommunication Union Helping the world communicate Status of VoIP worldwide, 2006 Background paper for The Future of Voice ITU Workshop 16 January 2007 ITU, Geneva Phillippa Biggs, Economist Strategy and Policy Unit, ITU The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its Membership.

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Agenda  Forces driving expansion of VoIP  Country definitions of VoIP  Regulatory treatment of VoIP  Future Market Evolution Background paper: survey of worldwide status of VoIP regulation in mid-2006.

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Forces driving VoIP - Availability of Broadband Source: ITU

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union At greater speeds… Source: ITU

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union VoIP confers benefits for consumers & operators …  Consumers – cheaper, single provider, simplicity of flat-rate billing.  Operators: - Reduced costs - Avoid maintenance of old legacy networks - Tapping growth in new markets, including broadband; - Alliances with service & content providers in new, converged business models.

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Country definitions of VoIP DefinitionSelected countries QoS, now replaced by Functionality India, Japan Hong Kong Numbering systemJapan, Taiwan-China Netwk. ArchitectureIsrael, Saudi Arabia Degree over PSTN & terminals used Israel, Jordan India, Japan, Malaysia, Spain ServiceEgypt, Barbados, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, UK, US. UsersAustralia, Chile, Tunisia

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Regulatory treatment of VoIP, 2006 Explicitly banned (23 countries+) Explicitly legal (57 countries+) Public Consultation (22 countries+) “Under consideration” by gov’t/regulator (30 countries+) License required (26 countries+) Yet to be made legal “Twilight Zone of regulatory ambiguity” Explicitly deregulated or “light regulatory touch” (19 countries+)

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Regulatory status of IP Telephony, % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% AfricaAmericasArab StatesAsia-PacificEurope/CIS No policy for IP Telephony Prohibited Restricted Partial Competition Full Competition Note: Based on responses from 149 economies. “Prohibited” = no service is possible. “Restricted” = only licensed PTOs can offer service. “Partial competition” = non-licensed PTOs may use either IP networks or public Internet. “Full competition” = anyone can use or offer service. Source: ITU World Telecommunication Regulatory Database (2005 questionnaire).

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Strong growth in VoIP subscribers Source: IDATE.

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union But – the problem of the missing millions Difficult to estimate!

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Future market evolution – growth set to continue Source: ITU et al. ITU estimate refers to IP telephony Pink line: Telegeography

Helping the world communicate 16 January International Telecommunication Union Thank you for your attention Phillippa Biggs Economist, SPU, ITU