If the news from broadband management company Sandvine is any indication...the answer is yes. At least for residential anyway. Calls using Skype account for nearly half of the VOIP minutes used (46.2%) and about 40% of the VOIP bandwidth used in North America, according to an analysis done by Sandvine. That puts Skype usage ahead of Vonage, Cablevision, and other popular branded residential VOIP offerings. In fact, Sandvine says Skype users account for 35.8% of individual VOIP callers on North American networks.

Now again....look deeper. That's residential users......not business. Skype can't deliver the capability, capacity, and reliability businesses require. Plus residential Skype users are tied to a PC and headset arrangement. Businesses balk at that restriction. So Skype is still a nice alternative for the regular Joe....for now.

Skype is all about getting users hooked on the free part and then charging for additional services like SkypeOut and video conferencing. Also....Skype says it themselves, they are not a replacement for your home telephone -- they are an ancillary communication service.

Skype's master plan is to eventually begin licensing the Skype software to handset manufacturers around the world. So while Skype may be a threat to VOIP companies and wireline carriers now, it could evolve into a threat for mobile service providers too. Hmmmmm......the future looks to be very interesting.

About the Author
Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications http://ld.net/mscprez and http://DS3-Bandwidth.com ....delivering choices to both residential and business consumers worldwide for voice and data broadband services. Michael also authors BroadBand Nation http://BroadBand-Nation.blogspot.com where you're always welcome to to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, and ramblings for the masses.