Research firm: cable VoIP nearly doubled in 2006

Technology market research firm In-Stat has issued a new study that maintains that due to a big assist from VoIP, cable providers nearly doubled their number of telephone subscribers last year.

Of the 9.4 million cable telephone subscribers in North America, 6.6 million are VoIP users, In-Stat said.

In-Stat added that, with 42 percent of these cable VoIP users said they signed up for service in the last 12 months.

“In a growing number of markets around the world, cable TV operators consider telephony service to be an integral part of their telecommunications service bundle," analyst Mike Paxton said in a statement released with the findings.

In-Stat's study also says that worldwide cable telephony subscriptions jumped from 15.8 million in 2005 to more than 22 million last year. According to In-Stat, cable telephone service revenues are projected to reach $10.4 billion this year, up from $7.9 billion in 2006.