A new report has predicted that the market for mobile voice over internet protocol (VoIP) applications will take off over the next few years, business VoIP users may be interested to read.

Gartner said in its forecast that it is likely mobile VoIP apps - such as those provided by Skype, Truphone and fring - will enter the mainstream by 2017, when 4G networks are expected to be implemented.

It warned that such apps will pose a significant challenge to the traditional global market for mobile voice services, which is currently worth almost $693 billion (£459.2 billion).

"Once the basic market conditions are in place, transition to mobile portal VoIP should be fairly rapid because of the inherent convenience and end-user cost savings," remarked Tole Hart, research director at Gartner.

He added that Gartner expects 30 per cent of mobile voice traffic to be generated through third-party mobile portals such as those provided by Google, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo!.

The Skype app for the iPhone and iPod Touch was announced in March this year.

According to Scott Durchslag, Skype's chief operating officer, the service's users have been calling for an iPhone app to be launched for some time.