Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) market is expected to reach USD 8.17 billion in 2026, from USD 1.92 billion in 2020, recording a CAGR of 27.24% during the forecast period, (2021 - 2026). Most operators are expected to launch both VoWiFi and VoLTE services as a natural evolution toward an all-IP-based communication, which may improve the indoor coverage network more efficiently.

Key Highlights

• The increasing internet penetration is driving the market. According to Internet World Stats, with 3.7 billion internet users in late 2017, the penetration increased to 3.9 billion internet users in mid-2018. Around 71% of all mobile communication flows over WiFi, and 80% of smartphone users supplement their coverage with WiFi internet, which is raising the demand in the VoWiFi market very effectively.
• The reduction of indoor coverage problem is driving the market. Weak cellular reception at homes, offices, and shops is a major issue for users. People with poor indoor coverage can go to great lengths to get a signal, like leaning out of a window. VoWiFi makes it possible for users to make and receive calls reliably, even when staying indoors, without having to install new equipment or upgrade their smartphones.
• However, maintenance is problematic, as carriers are not responsible for troubleshooting and repairing Wi-Fi networks. Instead, residential Wi-Fi users and enterprise IT departments are responsible. Additionally, currently, there is no E-911 capability in VoWiFi, which is restraining the market.

Key Market TrendsPublic WiFi Hotspot to Gain Significant Market Share

A general access network lets users continue to have access to make calls without requiring a cell tower nearby. In addition to covering places with bad cell reception, the existence of public WiFi hotspots is calling for more VoWiFi. This encourages more users to use public WiFi, especially in rural areas, where the cell tower coverage is significantly worse than in urban areas.

In India, the government is aiming to put up 10 million WiFi hotspots by 2022, in order to facilitate public data offices, and it has mandated five hotspots in each of the 250,000 gram panchayats or village blocks for public utility services under the mega initiative to digitally connect the country. BSNL has been installing 25,000 WiFi hotspots under a government program, which it aims to complete by the end of the current fiscal year in 2019, which may increase the VoWiFi market.

The increase in the number of WiFi hotspots may also help the operators in freeing up their spectrums, as the users may make use of WiFi hotspots to make a call instead of using the carrier network. Thus, operators can save their capital expenditure.

Operators are likely to leverage on the availability of WiFi to use VoWiFi to extend coverage, particularly indoors and in areas of poor cellular coverage, to reduce churn, which may enhance the market growth in the future.

North America to Hold Significant Market Share

North America is gaining market share, due to the increasing penetration of LTE and early adoption of IMS. The number of LTE subscribers in North America increased from 71% in June, 2017, to 82% in December 2018. Moreover, T-Mobile used 70% of the spectrum for 4G LTE and out of the total voice calls, 67% were carried out using VoLTE.

In North America, roaming rates are very high, with the time spent on roaming trips being the highest among all other regions. Thus, with VoWiFi, roaming charges are expected to decrease, and the region may witness increased data roaming traffic.

Companies are also investing in IMS (Multimedia Core Network Subsystem) technology, directly or indirectly. For instance, in 2018, Eastlink, a telecom company, selected Ericsson as its network supplier for VoLTE and VoWiFi deployment. Ericsson is expected to deploy a 5G network based on virtual IMS components in the United States.

Telecom operators are also partnering with service assurance companies to improve the quality of their voice calls in the VoWiFi and VoLTE networks. For instance, in April 2018, Empirix, the provider of service assurance and customer experience management solutions for telecom operators, signed a three-year contract with a Tier-1 North American telecom operator for USD 19 million, which may drive the market in the future.

Competitive Landscape

The voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) market is moving toward a fragmented stage, as the competitive rivalry is increasing. Global players in the market are innovating new technologies to make them more helpful and efficient to the consumers. Key players in the market are Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems Inc., and Oracle Corporation. Recent developments in the market are -

• May 2019 - Cellcom, provider of nationwide communications services throughout Michigan and Wisconsin, selected Mavenir to deploy its virtualized IMS mobile core and voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) software solutions. This virtualized technology allows operators to quickly and easily create and manage Telco-grade services, based on a wide range of commercially available off-the-shelf hardware.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

Alcatel
Lucent
Oracle Corporation
Cisco Systems Inc.
Ericsson AB
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
Aptilo Networks
KT Corporation
Mitel Networks Corporation
Nokia Corporation
Ribbon Communications

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