According to the latest estimates the damage to the coffers of the telephone operators caused by the mobile instant messaging services would amount to over 10 billion euros. Among the main culprits appear without doubt in first position WhatsApp , the mobile app platform that has transformed the way people communicate via messages between mobile phones. Brian Acton, co-founder of the popular service, rejects accusations of undermining the gains of international carriers and opens the door to new 'was' communications.
Last February, the research agency Ovum quantified in 10.3 billion euros the harm to the telephone operator’s use of instant messaging, which have "cannibalized" in the new era of smart phones, the traditional use of SMS. What at first glance seem an unfair and unbalanced - via internet, and the like WhatsApp lets you send unlimited messages at no cost! - Turns out to be rather an intelligent method of gain for both the IM service operators, for operators. To explain it is the same co-founder of WhatsApp Brian Acton, interviewed by Reuters.
WhatsApp can boast an exchange of messages 2 billion in February alone, increased by 100% since October. Allot Communications has estimated that 18% of the traffic as the exchange of messages between mobile phones in 2011, percentage of rapid growth during this year. But what are the consequences for workers, as well as the reduced consumption by users of SMS and MMS? Brian Acton responds:
I consider it from the following perspective: we are encouraging a large scale, the conclusion of subscriptions for Internet data traffic and who distributes those subscriptions are telephone operators, so they are taking their substantial benefits. It's all about internet data!
The reasoning is simple and elementary: the offer of a service that allows you to send unlimited messages for free to any smartphone is pushing more people to contract with the telephone operators for accessing the Internet. The "perspective" was talking about Brian Acton opens the doors (of the mind, for now) the new 'was' communications in which we are conducting more and more massive the spread of smartphones. In a few years you might well assume that the operators to stop basing their revenues on providing SMS and phone calls and become mere sellers of Internet subscriptions. It will then be up to the user to use their subscription in the most efficient, choosing among the many IM clients, VoIP calls and video calls. In this view of things, the operators would do better to facilitate the use of these applications to "disguise" rather than fight them, perhaps by enhancing 3G and 4G networks and investing in this sense. via TNW
