Alcatel-Lucent's Market Advantage Program released results of a global study of how the recessionary climate is affecting consumer spending on specific telecommunications services that surprisingly found consumers much less likely to cut back on landline spend than either free or paid VoIP services. Seventy-four percent of the 3,200 respondents said they considered their landline telephone an "essential network-based service" they would not reduce spending on due to economic pressure. Only 32 percent of participants said the same for their paid VoIP service. As you would expect, respondents said they were less likely to cut back on free VoIP services, as 48 percent considered them essential.

While the number of landline telephones globally dwarfs the paid VoIP extension total, the results of the Alca-Lu survey do call into question the value proposition of VoIP, at least in terms of how integral consumers consider it. It's a question VoIP service providers need to be asking, as nearly two-thirds of participants planned on cutting spending on network services in 2009, according to the survey.

Despite all the noise over threats of landline loss due to mobile substitution and free VoIP alternatives, this survey suggests global consumers might not be in any rush to cut the cord. 

For more:
- see the press release and results explanation here [1]

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