A new study from Juniper Research shows a phenomenon that's proving to be bad news for mobile providers, a tragedy in two acts. Act one, mobile video calling is very much on the rise. Act two, getting revenue out of all of that video calling is proving to be a much tougher proposition than anyone expected, a combination of events that's ultimately putting a damper on earnings.
The Juniper Research report in question, entitled “Future Voice Strategies: mVoIP, Carrier OTT and Mobile Video Calling 2014-2018,” shows that there's a huge demand for mobile video calling. Users of such services are expected to clear the 130 million user mark just by 2018. That's terrific news in itself, and shows that this market on the whole has the potential to be absolutely huge. But there's a downside to this news, as it turns out that many of those users aren't actually paying for the service directly from the carriers, instead turning to services like Skype and the growing field of Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) services.
The study went on to not only show that WebRTC was becoming increasingly used, but that it would also serve to spur further development in the field, as the technology slipped into websites and mobile apps, allowing for whole new interactions with users like direct connections to call centers from a website. Further, the study noted that the rise of 4G connections would drive many mobile network operations (MNOs) to adopt voice over LTE (VoLTE) connectivity, as it would improve overall network efficiency. The study notes, however, that deriving direct revenue from such a connection would be difficult for the businesses involved, but some specialist firms like Amdocs and Kineto have found niches in generating monetization strategies. What's more, some MNOs along with over the top (OTT) carriers are getting together to generate whole new fields in voice services, and this combination may help to provide the monetization strategies the industry so clearly needs.
The report's author, Anthony Cox, offered up a bit of commentary to supplement his report, saying, “The role of mobile video calling is becoming clearer. With a number of OTT players having gained a critical mass of users through the provision of free video services, those players are now introducing an array of premium products or creating revenue-share partnerships to create a viable revenue stream.”
This is one of those examples that shows how important it is, overall, to keep up with changing trends in technology in general. The rise of WebRTC, the increasing numbers of mobile devices, technology like Artemis' pCell system that may make it a lot easier to lay out mobile data networks...these things are all adding up to mean big change in the mobile communications market. We've got more users than ever before, and more ways to use bandwidth. It's not surprising to hear names like AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson come out and note that pretty soon the idea of a voice plan may not exist on cell phones at all, replaced by a combination of a data network and a mobile video calling system, or even a WebRTC connection.
There are big changes coming to the way we communicate, and some of these changes have even already landed. But with these changes comes opportunity and danger alike, and seeing just how the MNOs respond to these issues should be a development very much worth watching.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
