The number of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) connections will grow by nearly 350% from now until 2014, according to ABI Research.
There are 6.3 million FMC connections worldwide, but that figure will grow to more than 27 million by 2014, ABI said.
FMC connections are dominated by femtocells. But much of the market's growth in the years ahead will come from Wi-Fi, ABI said.
"While femtocells have been all the rage, dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones will also increase enterprise FMC voice access," practice director Dan Shey said.
Indeed, ABI estimates that Wi-Fi in smartphones will grow from a 45% attach rate in 2009 to a 90% attach rate in 2014.
The nascent availability of VoIP applications on handsets could also change the game, Shey said.
“Downloadable apps that offer VoIP connections over WiFi or on unlimited data plans may not be enterprise-grade for now. But their availability will change how we view VoIP on phones, leading to some interesting opportunities and challenges for the mobile supply chain,” he said.