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.     

  Story by Ghana|Adom Business|Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona/[email protected]