US VoIP Calling Rises By 32%

It may still not enjoy the popularity found in other parts of the world but there's no doubt that Internet telephony is rapidly gaining ground among consumers in the US.

According to responses from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) just released Fall 2008 Survey of the American Consumer, four per cent of respondents reported they had made an online phone call in the last 30 days.

While this leaves VoIP calling still far from mainstream - especially compared to other Internet-related activities such as emailing - it does represent a year-to-year increase of 32 per cent.

It also gives online phone calling one of the the biggest year-to-year per cent increases among adult Internet users, along with downloading TV programs and watching online videos.

E-mail, news gathering and paying bills online continue to be among the most widely used Internet activities by US consumers.

MRI began measuring Internet activities in 1997 and continually adds new Internet behavior questions to its survey.

The fall 2008 data include four new Internet activities: sharing photos (done by one in four adults in the last 30 days); sending electronic greeting cards; watching a live TV program online; and uploading or adding video to a Web site.