Abstract
The market for fixed residential video telephony is beginning to take shape as
suppliers are finally beginning to meet the demand for higher quality, more
affordable devices.
Technological advancements, strong competition from Far Eastern manufacturers
and the emergence of broadband have all played an important role in the
amelioration of previous supply-side issues. Subsequently, a growing number of
operators (for example, Telecom Italia, SingTel and France Telecom),
manufacturers (such as Motorola) and VoIP providers (for example, Skype and
Sony) are entering the market. Whilst success to date appears mixed, the
success of Telecom Italias analogue video telephony service (which had sold
765,000 videophones in the 15 months to September 2005) seems promising for
the market overall.