Subscribers to VoIP services increased by 83 per cent last year, new figures reveal.

Worldwide retail VoIP subscribers jumped from 10.3 million at the beginning of 2005 to over 18.7 million by the end of the year, according to broadband analyst Point Topic.

The company also estimated that the number of people who paid for PC-to-phone calls during 2005 was over 4.7 million. Story continues