Hampshire, UK – A new study from Juniper Research has found that the number of mobile video calling services reached 1.8 billion globally in 2020; rising from 1.2 billion in 2019. This represents a growth of 50% over 12 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled the need for remote communication services.

The study, Mobile Voice & Video Calling: Operator Strategies, Vendor Opportunities & Market Forecasts 2021-2025, predicts that the number of mobile video calling service users will continue to grow; reaching 4.5 billion users by 2025, representing 50% of global mobile subscribers.

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Capitalising on the Growth of Mobile Video Calling

The report identified North America and Europe as two regions that will experience considerable uptake of mobile voice and video calling solutions over the next four years. By 2025, over 70% of mobile subscribers are anticipated to use mobile video calling solutions in these regions; owing to high smartphone ownership and the ubiquitous availability of video calling services.

The research recommends the integration of mobile voice and video calling services into smart speakers to maximise service value. Research co-author George Crabtree remarked, “Innovation in the mobile voice and video space will come from consumer devices beyond smartphones, enabled by the IP-based nature of video calling services. This provides the perfect platform for the development and rollout of new video calling services over the next four years.”

VoLTE Users to Exceed 5.5 billion by 2025

The research also predicts that the global number of VoLTE connections will reach 5.5 billion by 2025; rising from 3.3 billion in 2021. This growth of 60% over the next four years will be accelerated by increasing adoption of 5G subscriptions by mobile subscribers, as VoLTE services are included in 5G standards. The report recommends that increasing the level of virtualisation within core networks should be considered a priority for operators to handle increasing VoLTE traffic.