Internet Telephone Service

Skype Leads the VoIP Pack

August 9, 2005

WATERLOO, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)Press Release--Aug. 9, 2005--New research from intelligent broadband network equipment maker, Sandvine reveals that Skype is leading the VoIP provider pack in North America.

2004 was termed the 'year of VoIP rollouts' and the first half of 2005 has seen explosive consumer adoption. Yankee group projects that by year-end 2008, VoIP will serve 17.5 million U.S. households. With over 1,100 VoIP providers identified, (see www.sandvine.com/news/pr_detail.asp?ID=73) Skype takes the lead and garners an astounding 35.8% of all VoIP calls in the US. Skype takes an even more commanding lead of 46.2% when it comes to share of minutes, suggesting that Skype users are also making longer calls. Other PC-based VoIP services like Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL chat are distant seconds.

Third party paid VoIP providers represent 35.7% of all VoIP minutes. Broadband service providers hold the strongest position in this category since joining the race, quickly closing the gap with an 18.1% share of all VoIP minutes on their network. Vonage, Primus, and AT&T CallVantage capture the next three positions.

"VoIP consumes minimal bandwidth on a broadband service provider's network. Understanding which subscribers are using VoIP, how much of it, and for how long gives service providers actionable data to prioritize VoIP traffic and ensure optimal quality of experience," said Tom Donnelly, Sandvine executive vice president, marketing and sales.

"VoIP represents a small percentage of bandwidth, but a very large revenue opportunity for broadband service providers," said Lindsay Schroth, senior analyst, Broadband Access Technologies, Yankee Group. "Broadband providers can capitalize on this opportunity by protecting their subscribers' VoIP service and delivering a consistent, reliable, and high-quality service."

Sandvine intelligent broadband management solutions monitor traffic across service provider networks representing over 40% of the US broadband market.

ABOUT SANDVINE INCORPORATED: Sandvine's award-winning intelligent broadband network equipment helps broadband service providers characterize what really happens on their networks, enabling policies that improve customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs and improve profitability. Sandvine's application and subscriber-aware solutions empower service providers to take control of P2P traffic, stop the proliferation of destructive worm, DoS and spam trojan traffic and ensure subscriber quality of experience (QoE). With over 100 deployments globally, Sandvine is protecting the Internet experience for millions of broadband subscribers worldwide. www.sandvine.com

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