Stand-Alone Messaging App from Amazon

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon plans to launch its own stand-alone messaging app, called Anytime, according to a news report that cites a user who claims to have received an Amazon survey about the new messaging service. Amazon has not confirmed that it is working on this service.
 
The app would be available to end-users of smartphones, tablets, PCs and smartwatches. The survey asks users which features are most important to them, and according to one customer, the survey seemed to imply it was a ready product. Anytime is described as an all-in-one feature-rich service that includes text messages and video chat. Anytime will also include features that can be used in groups, such as games, music, and food ordering.
 
The service will keep chats private and will allow users to “encrypt important messages like bank account details.”
 
While this report is certainly far from conclusive, Amazon’s ambitions have always been big and appear to be getting bigger. The company has already launched messaging services for both businesses and consumers, including Amazon Chime, the online video-conferencing service for enterprises. Recently it launched messaging and calling features for Alexa devices.
 
So it makes sense that Amazon would launch an all-purpose OTT messaging app to compete directly with WhatsApp, Skype and others. And considering the company’s highly aggressive approach in general, its level of capitalization and its huge existing customer base, we would not be surprised to see Anytime (if that is what it will be called) pose a major threat to all existing players. Perhaps it would eventually even acquire and take over some of those services.
 
For mobile operators, Amazon’s entry into the OTT space would not have the impact it would have on the OTT players themselves, of course. The game has already been lost, in a sense, with MNOs losing messaging business to OTTs and then striking deals to zero-rate their data and even engaging in partnerships to promote them. Still, a huge, possibly market-dominating new player could shake things up in the sector. Amazon would arguably have less reason to work with the MNOs for promotional purposes, and it could also simply, by virtue of its size and scope, take even more business away from SMS/MMS and even MNOs’ voice services. At the very least, an Amazon OTT would be just one more challenge for mobile operators to contend with in the traditional services space—and maybe beyond, given the possible presence of gaming, music and other non-traditional features in the putative Anytime.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. 

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

WhatsApp to Roll out Video Calling

WhatsApp said it will be introducing a new video calling service to its over 1 billion users worldwide on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The OTT provider stated that the service is meant for every type of phone, from the most expensive to the least expensive. The service will be rolled out to all users over the next few days. According to reports, during a video call, users will be able to switch between the forward-facing and rear-facing cameras, mute the call or press the red button to hang up. WhatsApp, which currently offers messaging and voice calling, says that video calling has been one of the most-requested features from users.   As we have noted frequently in these pages, free or nearly-free OTT services that compete with the offerings of MNOs have been proliferating over the past several years, posing a challenge to the mobile operators. Along with Skype, Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been one of the most vigorous challengers, fueled by its huge worldwide base of subscribers. First with text messaging, then with voice calling, it offered services that closely paralleled or duplicated those of mobile operators. The expansion of high-speed LTE networks (built with the investment of the MNOs) and the increasing availability of budget smartphones have made video calling a possibility for a vast number of users worldwide, so the time is right for WhatsApp to offer it. In this case, however, we do not see it being as significant a competitor to MNOs as with its earlier offerings. While some mobile operators have created native video calling services, for the most part consumers rely on third-party apps for video calling. Probably the company that will be most threatened by WhatsApp’s new offering is Apple, whose FaceTime feature enjoys great popularity. WhatsApp video calling is platform-agnostic, and therefore users no longer have to buy an iPhone to make video calls. The question will be how high the quality of the calls will be, and that will have a great effect on the uptake rate for WhatsApp’s video calling service.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com

Microsoft to Launch Microsoft WiFi

U.S.-based software and technology giant Microsoft has announced that it is working on a new Wi-Fi service, called Microsoft WiFi, to replace Skype Wi-Fi. Microsoft said the service will provide access to 10 million hotspots worldwide. Currently Skype Wi-Fi has 2 million hotspots. Microsoft made the announcement via microsoftwifi.com, which stated that the new service will be available for users of Skype Wi-Fi, users of Microsoft Office 365 for Enterprise, and people who have received a special Wi-Fi offering from Microsoft. No financial details of the planned service—which will be available via Windows Phone, Mac, Android and iOS—were disclosed. While it is not yet clear when Microsoft WiFi will launch, it seems that when it does, a large step will have been taken in the direction of making public Wi-Fi connections universally accessible. Ten million hotspots in some 130 countries is no doubt an impressive number, and it marks a quintupling of the number now available to Skype subscribers (Microsoft owns Skype, which it acquired in 2011). We have written recently about the proliferation of services that rely partially or wholly on Wi-Fi hotspots—usually free ones—as an auxiliary or even a replacement for traditional cellular data (and, by extension, voice and text messaging if over-IP solutions are used). The success of such challenges to the mobile operators’ connectivity depends, of course, on the number and density of Wi-Fi hotspots available in public places both indoors and outdoors. Until now, Wi-Fi hotspots have not been ubiquitous enough to make these services game changers. However, if a giant entity like Microsoft can really spread hotspots across the globe densely enough, a web of connectivity operating outside the MNOs’ networks can come into existence. Of course, while this will be public Wi-Fi, it will not be free public Wi-Fi; Microsoft will be charging for the access, so in order for it to position itself as a significant competitor to cellular service, it will have to be priced appropriately.

Tarifica has been the leading provider of telecom pricing information for close to four decades. It maintains the most robust, in-depth and up-to-date pricing database in the industry, which includes mobile and fixed line rates from over 400 operators in 85 countries, as well as historical data going back to 1997. Tarifica also produces reports, surveys, publications and custom analyses. Its clients include operators, regulators, enterprises and consultants in every region of the globe. 

U.K. Operators to Lobby Regulator About OTT Services

Mobile operators will use a telecom industry review recently launched by U.K. regulator Ofcom to urge that the same rules be applied to OTT calling and messaging apps such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp as to traditional telecom services, according to a report. The MNOs will argue that IP-based communication services are competing unfairly by avoiding costly regulatory hurdles while relying on MNOs’ network infrastructure. EE said, “We would expect Ofcom to address the changing relationship between network operators and the over-the-top players that rely on operator investment and services to grow their globally successful businesses.” Vodafone UK also said it would lobby the regulator on the issue, but neither operator provided specifics about their demands. While Tarifica has observed that many operators in various markets have adopted a strategy of “if you can’t beat them, join them” with regard to OTTs, some industry players have advocated taking a harder and more aggressive line, especially in light of the fact that OTTs depend on operator infrastructure in order to function. The U.K. operators’ lobbying on the issue, while it may not be successful, represents a significant first step in this direction for that market.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. Tarifica is a division of T3i Group, a diversified telecom information provider. To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com. Additional information on T3i Group can be found at www.t3igroup.com.

Dutch Regulator Fines KPN, Vodafone for Net Neutrality Violations

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets has imposed fines on two of the country’s operators, KPN and Vodafone, for violating net neutrality regulations. KPN was fined €250,000.00 (US $287,237.00) for not allowing users to access various services including VoIP via its free Wi-Fi hotspots. Vodafone received a penalty of €200,000.00 (US $229,790.00) for offering plans that allowed its subscribers to watch HBO via an app without using any of their data allowances. The regulator in a statement said, “It is forbidden for internet service providers to determine what their customers can and cannot do on the internet.” It added, “Under Dutch law, ISPs are not permitted to charge different access rates for specific online services.”

In 2011 the Netherlands became the first European country and the second in the world to incorporate net neutrality into its laws. The law was put into effect to ban mobile operators from blocking or charging consumers extra for using services such as Skype or WhatsApp. Chile passed a net neutrality law in 2010, and following the Netherlands, Brazil put net neutrality into law in 2014. It is interesting to note that in the Netherlands, although mobile operators raised their charges overall to compensate for lost revenue when net neutrality was adopted, the law was still hailed as a consumer victory. In the recent events for which KPN and Vodafone were fined, only KPN was blocking access to its subscribers. Vodafone was actually allowing customers to use data at no charge, but it violated the law by influencing its customers’ online behavior.

As these fines are being handed down to the Dutch MNOs, proposed reform of net neutrality across the European telecom market is at the center of discussions of the European Council of Ministers, the presidency of which recently passed to Latvia from Italy. Earlier this year, the EC’s published list of priorities said that it would push for a compromise on net neutrality over the next six months. It wants to strike a balance “between high-quality services and a reasonable cost for consumers.” This stance is seen as somewhat opposing the draft of a law passed by the Parliament last April, which strengthened net neutrality rules. While it does not appear that a two-tier internet will exist in the EU anytime soon, it is clear that data use will continue to increase on a global level and have a pronounced effect on the speed and delivery of information. Since operators will not be able to charge extra to discriminate among various internet traffic streams, we believe that they should look for other revenue sources that can be used to invest in infrastructure to enhance their networks and ensure subscribers continued access at reasonable speeds to everything on the internet.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

Messaging Apps Used In Europe Compared With The US

To Contact Tarifica's Research Team:   http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

Sprint Doubles the Data for Business Customers

On 10 October, U.S. operator Sprint began offering its Business Share Plan customers with installment billing double the normal amount of data, delivering between 240 GB and 800 GB per month to those with 50 to 100 lines. This promotion, which runs until 31 October, will cost US $50.00–$150.00 less than a similar promotion from AT&T. Sprint will also waive the US $15.00 access fees for unlimited talk and text through the end of 2015 for customers who bring their number to Sprint and activate a phone. The cost of the new Business Share Plan offerings range from US $400.00 per month for 240 GB of data to US $1,350.00 per month for 800 GB of data.

Clearly, Sprint is vying for market share in the business customer segment by offering more value. When it comes to subscriber value from mobile plans, data is the most important metric, because voice minutes or SMS can be replaced with OTT services such as WhatsApp and Skype, whereas there is no easy substitution for cellular data. For example, the formula for our Tarifica Score™—an objective measure currently available for consumer plans only—weights data more heavily than other plan elements. For MNOs, offering more data—or similar amounts of data for less money than competitors, for example, Sprint’s promotion against the comparable AT&T promotion—is an excellent way to offer more value for customers.

However, there are other factors that go into the formula that will nonetheless work against Sprint. The company’s network coverage leaves a lot to be desired, so this promotion while appealing, will not necessarily end up giving Sprint a competitive advantage over AT&T. In addition, Sprint suffers from slower internet speeds than those of its counterparts, which exacerbates the problem. This promotion is a step in the right direction, but it still may not be enough to offer better value for customers than other business plans. 

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

Facebook Messenger Surpasses Skype

To Contact Tarifica's Research Team:   http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx