VoIP subscribers up 87%

Swedish regulator the National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) says in its annual report that the number of VoIP telephony subscribers in the country grew by 87% in 2006 to 410,000 at the end of December, up from 219,500 at the end of 2005, with residential users accounting for 95% of the total. According to the report, traditional fixed line subscriptions stood at 5.5 million at the end of 2006, down by 1% on the year before. Total annual fixed line call revenue was estimated at SEK19.5 billion (USD2.8 billion) by the PTS, down 11% year-on-year, whilst the watchdog also reported that mobile phone usage doubled in the past two years.