In response to the success of OTT providers, some CSPs have pegged these developers as “parasites” that feed off their networks and offer nothing in return. While it seems they have already lost the battle, however, service providers do have options that will help them adapt and find success in the OTT era, particularly by capitalising on their Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud hosting solutions.
The operator push to reclaim status in messaging services has received impetus in China where China Telecom has launched its own proprietary instant messaging application dubbed YiChat.
In an example of how operators are leveraging OTT partnerships, Telefónica this week struck a deal with Evernote to make the information management application available to its global user base.
Three out of ten mobile operators believe GSMA offering Joyn is not the solution to successfully compete with messaging service providers such as WhatsApp and Skype, according to research published today.
Telefónica Digital, the innovation arm of the Spanish incumbent telco, has called time on its rich communication prototype, Tu Me, in favour of a version that is not bound to smartphones.
OTT messaging application WhatsApp is to launch an internet-based voice messaging service for users. The firm is releasing its Voice Messages feature on all of the smartphone platforms it supports simultaneously.
The European mobile telecoms industry is now at the maturity stage of its life cycle. While the introduction of LTE is still a relatively recent event, there is limited revenue growth and consolidation is starting to set in. Rather than being challengers, in some ways mobile operators themselves have started to look like the old fixed line operators at the start of the telecoms market liberalisation in the 1980s.
Operators are “missing the big picture”, “exaggerating the threat from over-the-top (OTT) players”, and “misunderstanding the broader benefits of innovation”, according to Ovum.
French mobile operator Orange on Wednesday became the first in the country to launch Joyn rich communications services. The announcement marks France as the ninth country to introduce Joyn, while 14 operators in total have pledged their support to the GSMA-backed initiative.
The head of Telstra Global has claimed today (June 18th) at the CommunicAsia event in Singapore that many so-called telco truths such as the concept of ‘dumb pipes’ are actually myths which are diverting Asian communications service providers from understanding the true path to success.
Since the launch of Skype in 2003, over-the-top (OTT) service providers have been successful in convincing subscribers to opt for their perceived to be free offerings, at the expense of operators’ voice and SMS services.
Canadian firm BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) plans to make its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) application available on iOS and Android platforms later this year.
The smartphone landscape has benefitted from an infusion of variety this week as handsets running on the Firefox OS appeared on the market, as well as a WhatsApp styled phone from Nokia.
Mobile operators are increasingly seeing the value of partnering with Over The Top (OTT) service providers to mutual benefit. This week Indian carrier Reliance Communications struck a deal with social network Twitter to effectively subsidise data access for a limited period of time.
Deutsche Telekom’s US mobile operation T-Mobile fleshed out its new pricing strategy on Tuesday, led by CEO John Legere’s talk of a new ‘un-carrier’ model, which largely focused on tariff simplification, the removal of subsidies, and LTE coverage.
Almost four in ten respondents to The Telecoms.com Intelligence Industry Survey 2013 suggested that over-the-top (OTT) players have defeated mobile operators in the battle for consumer loyalty. A similar proportion of operator respondents agreed with this statement as respondents from the sector as a whole.
From early February Australian carrier Telstra will focus on building OTT challenger software and applications, through the creation of a Global Applications and Platforms unit.
Service providers in the African region have a golden opportunity: a chance to prepare for the opportunities afforded by next generation services, while operators in developed markets have tried and largely failed to develop consumer services beyond connectivity.
70 per cent of mobile operators believe that over-the-top service providers present an opportunity for partnership, rather than a threat. Furthermore, 64 per cent of operators acknowledge that OTT players bring innovation to the industry, although 42 per cent of them claim they could offer any service an OTT player can deliver, but better.
This year’s IBC event lacked a big, overarching theme, or new “wow” topic to get journalists, analysts and market-watchers foaming at the mouth. And that’s no bad thing. It’s the sign of a maturing industry, and as a result, the show retained a healthy focus on improving existing products and trying to get the big things – multiscreen, OTT, hybrid – right. Nevertheless, there was plenty on show that highlighted that the market remains miles away from anything resembling certainty.
Kit vendor Ericsson has teamed up with Intel and Microsoft to demonstrating end-to-end 5G standalone network slicin hhttps://t.co/hkmq6IYyif
02 February 2023 @ 16:59:26 UTC
Government-backed start-up incubator Tech Nation has been forced to shut down after its funding was withdrawn. https://t.co/wkVevSPzHW
02 February 2023 @ 16:59:03 UTC
As 5G rollouts and coverage continue to expand globally, conversations around mmWave (frequency bands between 24GHz hhttps://t.co/g56D34dSQ8
02 February 2023 @ 15:19:41 UTC
