The European market for hosted web-conferencing services is set to boom, according to telecommunication market watcher Frost & Sullivan. That market was worth a combined $162.6 million in 2008, it said, but will grow at a compound annual rate of 26% to reach $651.7 million in 2014.

That growth is being driven by businesses slashing their travel expenses for both financial and environmental reasons. “The global recession and stringent environmental laws introduced by the European Parliament in 2008 are driving organisations to reduce their travel expenses and comply with ‘green’ policies,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Iwona Petruczynik. “Web-conferencing services certainly help in achieving these objectives.”

Uptake is accelerating particularly fast among small and medium-sized organisations, the company said. Web-conferencing has been perceived in the past as too complex or too costly for these organisations, but the availability of cheap and easy-to-use services and increasing use of online communications technology has unlocked adoption.