[ 2014-10-23 ]

Telcos to lose $14bn to OTT Apps this year but…
A new report from Juniper Research indicates that
voice and messaging traffic continues to lose
market share to OTT (Over The Top) players such as
WhatsApp, Facebook and Skype and that is expected
to cost telecom operators $14 billion in revenues
globally by the close of this year, up by 26% on
losses made in 2013.

The report, dubbed “Mobile Operator Business
Models: Challenges, Opportunities & Strategies
2014-2019” found that in a number of markets,
including Italy, Spain and the UK, operator mobile
voice revenues had fallen to less than 60% of
their value five years’ ago.

It argued that a combination of IM (interactive
media), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and
social media substitution was primarily
responsible, resulting not only in lost revenues
but in additional costs due to the scale of
signaling traffic.



M2M, Big Data offer New Revenue Streams

However, the report also identifies an array of
new revenue streams with the potential to deliver
cumulative revenues to operators in excess of $66
billion over the next five years. The resulting
revenues could more than offset the decline from
core service revenues on an annual basis by 2018.

According to report author Dr. Windsor Holden,
“In areas such as M2M (Machine to Machine) and
mobile money, operators can achieve a substantial
revenue uplift by focusing on full service
provision rather than simple connectivity”.



Direct Carrier Billing

Additionally, the report recommended that
operators implement direct carrier billing to
retain a foothold in the lucrative mobile content
space, and that they enhance their analytics
packages to monetize consumer ‘big data’.

Other findings from the report include:

Without optimization, mobile data delivery costs
will increase by more than three times over the
next three years.


Implementation of NFV (Network Functionality
Virtualization) solutions offer operators the
potential both of cost savings on proprietary
hardware and on reducing product time-to-market.


Operators can boost core revenues by introducing
higher-value shared data plans or by bundling
content into a monthly subscription.
The whitepaper, Mobile Operators ~ Strategies for
Growth, is available to download from the Juniper
Research website together with further details of
the full report and the attendant Mobile Operator
Business Models Excel.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical
services to the global hi-tech communications
sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and
industry commentary.



Ghana

Indeed a recent GSMA Report compiled by Delloite
indicated more people are using VoIP platforms
such as Facebook, Viber, Tango and Skype to call
Ghana than using direct mobile lines. This is
because VoIP is more affordable.

And other reports elsewhere indicate small
business in particular, find VoIP more affordable
and reliable for business communication more than
they do M2M.

Meanwhile, in Ghana, telcos continue to offer
affordable data package to encourage data
consumption, mainly through the usage of OTT Apps
such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Viber. Tango,
and others.

Telecoms market leader, MTN Ghana for instance is
offering a Social Bundle at GHC5 (about US$1.4)
for 30 days for use on Facebook, Twitter and
Whatsapp.

Some customers of MTN have also reported they get
free data credit when they download OTT Apps like
Viber and Tango.

All the other telcos are also offering affordable
time-bound data bundles to suit the lifestyles of
their customers in terms of data consumption. They
each have separate packages for browsers, live
streamers, downloaders.

At least three, MTN, Vodafone and Airtel are
offering devices that enable groups to access the
internet simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the new 4G LTE entrant, Surfline is
also offering similar devices to encourage group
data consumption from one account, a move, Juniper
said promises to be a revenue booster for telcos
in the coming years.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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