Skype is the Largest International Telephony Operator

Internet telephony (VoIP) service provider "Skype" has become the world's largest international telephony service. (Source Techradar.com)

This was demonstrated by the company "TeleGeography". They conducted a market study and found that in 2008 "Skype" data traffic increased by 51 percent and in 2009, according to preliminary estimates, even 63 percent. Overall, in this VoIP network, call duration has reached 54 billion minutes per year.

Meanwhile, other international telephone service providers had a total of only 8 percent increase in the overall traffic of conversation.

Currently, "Skype" has more than 520 million registered users. "TeleGeography" analyst Stephen Beckert said, although "Skype" is currently the largest international carrier, but the company's revenue still does not reflect the popularity of its services: in 2008 it was around 551 million U.S. dollars. "Skype" representatives expect that over the next 2 years they will be able to overcome 1 billion U.S. dollars.

About "Skype"

"Skype" is a software application that allows users to use VoIP (Internet telephony), "Skype" offers users voice calls, video calls, instant messaging over the Internet. It also offers calls to other landlines and mobile phones, although this service is not free but it is greatly cheaper than services which are delivered by other carriers. "Skype" was written by Estonian programmers. The company was bought by "eBay" in 2005 for $2.6 billion. "Skype" is also capable of running in handheld devices like mobile phones, smart phones, gaming devices such as "Sony PSP". PSP users can make free calls to other "Skype" users, see which friends are online and communicate, purchase Skype Credit and make cheap "SkypeOut" (to fixed and mobile phones) and receive "SkypeIn" calls.

"Skype" has been adopted by hundreds of hardware products and it works with more than 50 software developers to provide more opportunities for the program. Skype has already been downloaded over 500 million times and has more than 246 million registered users worldwide. "Skype" and all "Skype" approved equipment and accessories are used via broadband Internet access. "Skype" is not a substitute for traditional telephone and cannot be used for emergency calls. "Skype", "SkypeIn", "SkypeOut", "Skype Me", "Skype Certified", "Skypecasts" are "Skype Limited" trademarks.

Sources:
http://www.skype.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype
http://www.telegeography.com/