New technology has always pushed the older ones to the corner. American cable companies are positioned to capture a growing share of the residential telephone market, according to a recently updated forecast from SNL Kagan.

In the past two years, incumbent landline operators have seen their share of the residential telephone market drop from 90% to 74%, and SNL Kagan expects a further 23% drop over the next five years, as low-priced cable VoIP offerings capture the attention of customers.

Forecasters expect that 31.4 million American households will use a IP-based service as their primary residential phone line by 2012. Cable phone services are expected capture 26% of the home phone market within the same time frame, then stabilize with a market share of 27%, according to SNL Kagan’s ten-year outlook.

Analysts also expect wireless landline-replacements to gain momentum over the next few years, possibly constituting an even bigger threat to traditional telephone operators. About 12 million American households have already cut off their landlines in favour of all-wireless services, and this number is expected to hit 26 million by 2012, constituting a 22% market share.

“The maturing of the younger, more tech-savvy demographic combined with emerging technologies (such as femtocell) set to improve wireless coverage and reduce costs, will further promote the position of wireless services,” explained senior SNL Kagan analyst, Ian Olgeirson.

Source:
www.teleclick.ca/2008/05/cable-voip-and-wireless-threaten-traditional-us-telephone-carriers