Skype records 25m users

Voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) giant, Skype, has recorded 25 million subscribers Skyping concurrently, reports PC Mag.

It has been a busy year for Skype. After filing for an IPO in August, it was reported the public listing would be delayed until next year when better market conditions could value the company at up to $1 billion.

This year, Skype forged partnerships with channels like Verizon, Facebook and Avaya, as well as embedded itself into select mobile phones. In October, Skype also released its first Android app and named top Cisco executive Tony Bates as CEO.

The VOIP equipment market revenue has decreased by 9% from second quarter to third quarter this year to reach $511 million, states TMCnet.

This is according to a report released by market research firm Infonetics Research, which shows VOIP revenue dipped for the quarter, however, shipments for almost all segments in the market are up sequentially.

This report also indicates that Asia Pacific is the only region expected to post year-over-year revenue growth in 2010 for service provider VOIP equipment.

Scottish open source IT systems specialist Suretec Group has introduced a VOIP division within the company, says Tech Zone360.

The creation of SureVOIP follows Suretec securing approval from UK communications industry regulatory body, Ofcom to assign UK telephone numbers.

As an Ofcom regulated VOIP provider with its own telephone number allocations, SureVOIP has been approved to assign phone numbers to clients across the UK and Northern Ireland. The company can also supply global numbers for at least 60 countries.