With the hype market bursting (thank God), there is a renewed emphasis on quality. This is great news for companies who are actually executing like Skype. Skype, most known for being forgotten when eBay brought them, has been coming on strong in this down market.

My Angle: Skype has a massive user base and a software communication platform. Skype isn’t a phone company. Skype is a software communications platform. Skype is growing and isn’t dying.

The lastest data from TeleGeography shows that they are growing on the voice side. Not bad for a company that isn’t a phone company. Just yesterday Skype announced SIP support for the enterprise. Hmmm…. Unified Communications???

Skype: Got Voice?
New data from TeleGeography show that international voice traffic continues to rise, despite the availability of an ever-broader range of substitutes for standard telephone calls. Cross-border telephone traffic grew 14% in 2007 and is estimated to have grown 12% in 2008, to 384 billion minutes. Due to declining call prices, however, revenues have largely been flat.

While international telephone traffic is increasing at a modest pace, Skype’s international traffic has soared: TeleGeography estimates that Skype’s cross-border traffic grew approximately 41% in 2008, to 33 billion minutes —equivalent to 8% of combined international telephone + Skype traffic. ‘Skype’s traffic growth has been remarkable,’ said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert. ‘Only five years after its launch, Skype has emerged as the largest provider of cross-border voice communications in the world.’