As traditional service providers continue to see their international voice calling revenues decline, Skype's cross-border traffic continues to rise.
According to a new TeleGeography report, long-distance traffic only grew 4 percent in 2011, to 438 billion minutes. This was significantly less than the historical 13 percent annual average growth rate.
Much like its earlier report issued last January, TeleGeography said that cross-border Skype-to-Skype calls (including video calls) grew 48 percent in 2011, to 145 billion minutes.
In 2011 alone, the research firm estimates that Skype added 47 billion minutes of international traffic.
"Given Skype's enormous traffic volumes, it's difficult not to conclude that at least some of Skype's growth is coming at the expense of traditional carriers," said Stephan Beckert, an analyst for TeleGeography. "If all of Skype's on-net traffic had been routed via phone companies, global cross-border telephone traffic would have grown 13 percent in 2011, remaining in line with historical growth rates."
For more:
- TeleGeography has this report
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