According to [research by TeleGeography](http://www.telegeography.com/wordpress/?p=59) (and thanks to Om for [pointing it out](http://gigaom.com/2007/09/09/voip-in-europe/ "In Europe, They Like Their VoIP « GigaOM")), growth in [VoIP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_IP "Wikipedia Entry: Voice over IP") use in Europe is substantially faster than that in the US.

> Several factors help account for Europe’s much more rapid VoIP service growth, including freer access to incumbents’ local copper loops, more aggressive competition and pricing, and the active participation of incumbent operators such as France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and BT in the VoIP market.

Of course, Skype has a substantial part to play in all of this, but what's important to recognise is that Skype isn't just about VoIP. While other players focus on providing cheap voice calls — which, admittedly, Skype does pretty well — Skype also includes chat, conference calling, video calls, SMS, and plenty more. Oh, and [free calls](http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/products/priceoverview/ "What is free and what costs you a little money - Prices - Price Overview - Skype"), too.

*Ofcom [reported on internet calling](http://share.skype.com/sites/uk/2007/04/uk_voip_use_increasing.html "UK VoIP use increasing - Skype in United Kingdom") earlier this year.*