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.

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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.

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