The rapidly growing small and medium businesses (SMB) sector in the Middle East and Africa region is driving the demand for Internet protocol (IP) telephony implementation, reveals a survey.

The study was conducted by Avaya, a global provider of business communications applications, systems and services. 

Following the partnership with Avaya in the US, Netgear, a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, has expressed its intention to support the communication vendor's advanced business-class IP solution targeting the SMB market in the Middle East.

The company has also participated at the recently concluded Mena Business Partner Conference 2008, an event organised by Avaya, which introduced the Avaya Quick Edition to more than 300 Avaya authorised business partners from the Middle East and North Africa region.

According to recent statistics, the annual shipment for IP phones reached the 10 million unit mark in 2006, and the global market for IP telephony shows a promising future with expectations of further growth up to 164 million units by 2010 and $15bn worth of IT services related to IP telephony migration within the next five years.-TradeArabia News Service