FREE CALLING THROUGH APPS, A TREAT TO TELECOM?

It is hard to believe that information which was carried through letters or telegram, shifted to telephones, STD booths, then to mobile phones, SMS-s and now it’s over internet or over cell phones.   The journey from fibre optics to satellites is the most rapidly growing market that telecommunication has witnessed. When you see, your updated Whatsapp has that free calling icon, you become as much excited as you are, to get a surprise holiday. The free call facility in your android or smart phone has always attracted you. This instant messaging and various apps like Skype, Viber has disrupted the IM market. The international and national calling has become much easier and smooth.

“Free” and “unlimited” has always been a boost to app revenue, making the consumers happy. All this innovation has no doubt, worried the telecom operators the most. The telecom is pushed back from limelight to a deem sector of the industry. Thus the instant messaging apps are looked into to build a pace.

Over The Top (OTT) services is an option for consumers who can be provided with instant messaging services to that of text messaging services, through any mobile network operation. Consumers access OTT through the usage of these apps. In India, only 20% of consumers are using data, and 80% prefer to use only voice, so the OTT fight is yet to come, as believed by Market Quotient.

Every other app starting from Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber, Line, has the facility of free call where the data consumption cost is half to that of normal calling cost. The quality is nowhere comparison though. Here the apps take the OTT service for free. Though Indian telecoms have come up with new apps, which is a turning point for them. Hike, which is been developed by Bharti Enterprise and SoftBank, is an instant message app. Hike offers unlimited free SMS to its user, thus giving a tight competition to Whatsapp and other apps.

Airtel, Reliance, BSNL, Vodafone and other telecom companies are revising their stand in data packages. Since people are shifting away from SMS and other value added services, consumption of data, increases. The telecoms need to however change their strategic positioning and build a new model to keep their existence. Market Quotient is such firm where the telecom sector is looked upon, researched and surveyed for a better solution. Market Quotient has served almost every sector with great success.