As time goes by, calling cards become something we get used to. We no longer blink shockingly when we see the unbelievably low rates on international long distance calls. We no longer wonder why a communication provider wouldn’t take a connection fee. We spend hours choosing the card to fit us perfectly and enable us to save more money than ever before. Now what?

Now it seems the industry is likely to stop developing the revolutionary way and give some space for the steady evolutionary process. Calling cards providers would develop their business within the existing rates schemes, introducing new services and improving the quality of the existing ones. It is now very difficuly to compete on the market with low rates only. The overall pricing structure in this industry is so tight, that it is hardly possible to offer even lower rates and still guarantee considerable quality and earn additional funds to invest in new technologies development.

The second strong tendency would probably be the consolidation of small providers into somewhat bigger enterprises. In one of my previous articles here on this site I’ve covered this aspect in more details, though speaking of VoIP services providers - it is difficult to survive in such a competitive industry if you are a small business without huge advertising and R&D budget.

Another thing I predict to happen is the niche marketing development. Those calling cards providers that can’t compete effectively on the global market, will seek for the ways to market their products within smaller segments, targeting certain geoup of customers with unique, but somewhat similar needs demands. This will help increase the brand loyalty and deep into the niche to become a local leader.