International Long-Distance Slumps, While Skype Soars

International Long-Distance Slumps, While Skype Soars

New data from TeleGeography show that growth in international call traffic has slumped while international traffic routed via Skype continues to accelerate. International phone traffic grew an estimated 4 percent in 2010, to 413 billion minutes, down from 5 percent growth in 2009, and a far cry from the 15 percent average growth rate achieved during the previous two decades.
Where did the growth go? One factor contributing to the slowdown is the deep recession of 2007-2009, which affect