Wi-Fi VoIP takes off

Unified comms vendor Polycom has announced that it is to acquire leading Wi-Fi telephony vendor SpectraLink in a deal estimated at $220 million.

Recent Infonetics research showed that the fastest growing sector in the mobile comms market was the dual-mode WiFi/cellular VoIP phone. Infonetics forecasted a five year compound annual growth rate of 198 percent between 2006 and 2010.

Infonetics wireless analyst Richard Webb pointed out that more operators were trying to transform into integrated multimedia service providers. The rebranding of the NTL, Telewest and Virgin Mobile combo as Virgin Media today, is just such an example.

“The appeal of such converged services is driving Wi-Fi phone adoption, especially in dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets,” said Webb. "Single-mode Wi-Fi-only VoIP handsets are also selling well, mostly in the enterprise space driven by pioneers like SpectraLink, but increasingly in the consumer space as well.”