Hundreds of Millions of Mobile VOIP by 2012

One hundred million? Two? Nope, about 300 million mobile warriors around the world will have mobile VOIP by 2013. That is the latest study released by In-Stat. A more precise number is 288 million, a shade under the size of the entire US population.

Of course, this is a far cry from the 6.6 billion Earthlings currently populating our small world. So we're talking about 4.5%.

I think that is just the beginning. As more 3G networks are build out or upgraded while 4th generation wireless networks become commercially available in 2011 and 2012, we should see an even faster adoption of mobile VOIP.

I like to go out on a limb now and say that we should see a number of half a billion by 2013 than what In-Stat conservatively came up with. China and the rest of Asia will emerge from this global funk we're in strong with a population flushed with cash with a great appetite for new mobile technologies.

And given the deal Skype recently made with Verizon, Google hungrily looking to expand its reach in the mobile market with Google Voice and Android, and Apple's own solution with the iPhone, we are looking a a strong spark to move mobile communication using VOIP. These are companies with a lot of influence and cash.

In-Stat all report 400 million devices will ship with Wi-Fi and traditional cell connection.

For startups and entrenched companies like Skype (I'm a Skype fan by the way), the VOIP market is ripe for the taking and allows for multiple players.

More at In-Stat.