06/07/2009

The future of computer application Skype is uncertain as it is difficult to tell whether businesses or individuals are using it to save money, a telecommunications expert has said.

According to TeleGeography, the Voice over Internet Protocol service has become increasingly popular.

Stephan Beckert, director of research at the organisation, said: 'The volumes are obviously huge, and growing at about 50 per cent annually. It remains to be seen what impact the recession or the release of clients for mobile devices will have on Skype's traffic.'

He added that it is difficult to predict whether more businesses are using the service to reduce their telecoms costs as there is no way of knowing how the increased take-up is split.

Previous research from TeleGeography showed that Skype's cross-border traffic grew approximately 41 per cent in 2008 to 33 billion minutes.

The study revealed that this is the equivalent of eight per cent of the combined international telephone and Skype traffic.