The expansion of fibre networks in the country is helping grow the number of VoIP connections, as consumers increasingly have a fixed line included with their broadband subscription. VoIP connections over fibre networks increased 3.5 percent on a quarterly basis, and DSL VoIP subscriptions also increased 0.5 percent in the quarter. Cable networks, which are still the most common way to subscribe to a fixed line, saw little change in their telephony customer base during the quarter.
The cable operators are maintaining their market share, but they may be approaching a saturation point in terms of how many more fixed lines they can sell, according to Telecompaper. At the same time, the decision UPC and Ziggo to stop offering free on-net calls earlier this year shows the operators are more focused on growing revenues than the number of connections. Despite the small increase in the fixed market in the third quarter, Telecompaper still expects the total number of fixed lines to fall this year, by 0.6 percent. For the five-year period 2014-2018, the researcher expects a CAGR of -0.7 percent, as growth in VoIP lines will not be enough to outpace the decrease in PSTN/ISDN and WLR users.
