8/19/2008 -- In today's climate of looming economic uncertainty, IT spending on one next-gen technology -- namely, VoIP -- seems anything but uncertain.

According to market watcher Infonetics Research, in fact, VoIP revenues exploded last year, notching 52 percent growth (amounting to some $24 billion), following on the heels of an even more impressive 66 percent growth spurt in 2006.

What's more, Infonetics projected, VoIP revenues should continue to post double-digit growth through 2011, thanks to enterprise uptake of VoIP.

Right now, Infonetics researchers said, most VoIP revenues are generated by consumers. Researchers feel that we're on the cusp of an adoption tipping point, however; the upshot, they argued, is that by 2011, slightly less than half of VoIP subscribers will be businesses.

"While VoIP services are being embraced by consumers worldwide, businesses have been comparatively slower in their adoption due to various roadblocks. This is about to change, though, as technical issues are resolved," said Matthias Machowinski, Infonetics' directing analyst for enterprise voice and data, in a statement.

It's been a long time coming, Machowinski said: "[M]any PBX manufacturers have already added SIP trunking interfaces to their equipment, and more recently, they've greatly expanded the list of certified service providers, and that's going to fuel the growth in SIP trunking services. These kinds of developments will boost the overall VoIP business services segment for years to come."

Between 2006 and 2007, worldwide residential/SOHO VoIP subscriptions grew by 60 percent (surpassing 75 million), with big gains in North America and EMEA, although Asia-Pacific is still the worldwide VoIP leader. But not for long; in 2008, Infonetics projected, the EMEA region will finally outstrip Asia-Pacific, leading the market through 2011. Over the same period, business usage of VoIP will surge from just over a quarter to 41 percent. --Stephen Swoyer