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Tag: mno

  • Protecting A2P SMS Revenue Streams Amidst CPaaS and OTT Disruption: Strategies for Retail Success

    Protecting A2P SMS Revenue Streams Amidst CPaaS and OTT Disruption: Strategies for Retail Success

    As the Asia Pacific (APAC) region accelerates through its digital evolution, mobile network operators (MNOs) find themselves grappling with an urgent challenge: the protection of Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS, a crucial communication channel. Despite its reliability and security as a mode of enterprise communication, A2P SMS is increasingly undermined by revenue loss through gray routes, fraud, and fierce competition from communication-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) providers and over-the-top (OTT) messaging options like WhatsApp and Flash Calls.

    Addressing these concerns is VOX Solutions, a company focused on A2P monetization, messaging security, and fraud prevention. The firm collaborates closely with operators, providing platforms and analytical tools designed to ensure revenue assurance while preserving the trust of both enterprises and subscribers.

    In an exclusive dialogue with Telecom Review Asia, John White, VP of Strategic Partnerships for APAC at VOX Solutions, provided insights into how MNOs can defend their messaging revenues, adapt to evolving market dynamics, and reinforce trust within the A2P SMS ecosystem.

    Navigating a Complex Landscape

    White identified the most pressing issue facing MNOs as the decline in A2P SMS traffic and revenue. This downturn stems from numerous factors, including budget-conscious enterprises opting for cheaper, unauthorized channels offered by CPaaS providers, along with widespread adoption of OTT messaging alternatives.

    Compounding these issues are ongoing threats from fraud and gray routes that continually chip away at revenue assurance. Some aggregators, who also operate as CPaaS providers, create conflicts of interest by simultaneously monetizing channels that compete directly with SMS. The outcome is a notable contraction in traffic, squeezed profit margins, and diminishing trust from enterprises and subscribers alike.

    The Future of A2P SMS: A Balancing Act

    Despite the pressures, A2P SMS holds a unique value proposition: it remains universal, reliable, and secure, with no app download required for users. Enterprises will continue to depend on A2P SMS for essential communications such as authentication, alerts, and consumer engagement.

    Ultimately, the future of A2P SMS rests in the hands of MNOs and how effectively they manage and safeguard this channel. Those that implement best-in-class monetization and fraud prevention strategies, alongside transparent partnerships, will stabilize revenues and reinforce SMS as the reliable communication avenue for enterprises.

    As new technologies like Flash Calls and Rich Communication Services (RCS) emerge, MNOs that cultivate robust partnerships can capture revenue across multiple channels, rather than allowing it to seep away through unregulated routes. It’s a classic case of adapt or be left behind—almost like a game of musical chairs, but instead of seeking a seat, it’s all about claiming the traffic!

    Strategic Priorities for MNOs

    To navigate this shifting landscape and protect their revenues, MNOs should focus on a comprehensive monetization strategy built on four cornerstones. First, they must achieve direct control over traffic by eliminating reliance on opportunistic aggregators and gray routes. Second, transparent commercial models are critical; fair and sustainable pricing helps retain the trust of enterprises. Third, robust fraud prevention is essential; leveraging analytics and AI can significantly reduce financial leakages. Finally, strategic partnerships are key. By working with dedicated providers like VOX Solutions, whose commitment lies with long-term alignment rather than opportunistic traffic deals, MNOs can position themselves favorably.

    Innovations from VOX Solutions

    VOX Solutions was founded with a sole mission: to prioritize the interests of MNOs fully. Eschewing competition with operators by not diverting traffic to cheaper OTT channels, VOX ensures that A2P messaging is conducted exclusively through direct, secure SMS pathways, promoting revenue assurance and brand credibility.

    Among their innovative offerings, the award-winning VOX360 platform stands out as a real-time SMS and Voice firewall that detects and blocks fraud. Additionally, their advanced analytics capabilities provide operators with clear visibility into gray-route traffic and fraud patterns. As a trailblazer in combating Flash Calls and Artificial Inflation of Traffic (AIT), VOX has set industry benchmarks and delivered the first AIT mitigation implementations worldwide. Their transparent, flexible commercial models aim to balance immediate risks with long-term revenue growth, making them a trusted partner for tier-one operators, regulators, and governments around the globe.

    Questions & Answers

    What are the primary challenges MNOs face regarding A2P SMS?
    The biggest challenges include declining traffic and revenue due to price-sensitive enterprises opting for cheaper alternatives, growing competition from CPaaS providers and OTT services, as well as ongoing threats from fraud and gray routes.

    How can MNOs protect their A2P SMS revenues in the future?
    MNOs can safeguard their revenues by implementing robust monetization strategies that enhance traffic control, enforce transparent pricing, improve fraud prevention, and build strategic partnerships with aligned providers.

    What innovations is VOX Solutions bringing to the A2P SMS ecosystem?
    VOX Solutions offers the VOX360 firewall for real-time fraud detection, advanced analytics for traffic visibility, and pioneering efforts against Flash Calls and traffic inflation, all while maintaining a long-term partnership model with MNOs.

  • Singtel, StarHub and M1 must keep innovating to stay in the game

    Singtel, StarHub and M1 must keep innovating to stay in the game

    Signs have not been good lately for Singtel, StarHub and M1, the country’s three large telecommunications companies. Technological innovations, as well as changes in regulations, have sent shock waves through the big three companies, and virtual mobile telcos such as MyRepublic, Zero1 and Circles.Life have also posed a threat to the larger players.

    But with new kid on the block, TPG Telcom, set to launch later this year, the question remains whether there is still a place for one more large telecommunications company in an already crowded market.

    The existing telcos say that since the country is small and has a mature mobile market with very high rates of penetration, perhaps three’s a company, but four would be a crowd.

    In other places such as Germany, Denmark and the UK there is consolidation of only three mobile network operator (MNO) providers. Indonesia, whose population of 250 million is huge, compared to Singapore’s 5 million, is also leaning toward consolidation.

    Three years ago, the  Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) asked whether expanding mobile services in the country is a viable option. Today, opinions still are divided as to whether or not there is room in Singapore for a fourth telco.

    One concern is that tougher competition will lead to fewer revenues in the mobile sector, which would in turn discourage service innovation, and even investments as well.

    On the opposite side is the IDA, which has evolved into the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), says that there is space for telcos to innovate their services, as well as room for more competition in the market.

    When a new MNO enters the market, this may also spur existing ones to further invest in innovating their networks in order to stay competitive.

    TPG Telecom, which is based in Australia, is already making quite a splash in Singapore, with a special offer for seniors, an audience not often catered to by telcos. TPG is giving a fee mobile plan for people aged 65 and above, complete with a SIM card, 3GB of data and unlimited mobile calls.

    Other telcos are greeting TPG’s launch as a splash of cold water on their faces, to get them to innovate their strategies. The telco industry is marked by both competition and innovation, and companies have to work hard to keep up. Their strategies must remain both quick and agile to remain enticing to existing customers as they attract others.

    For example, telcos have been threatened by over the top (OTT) voice, text and messaging options that only require WiFi for consumers to make calls and send messages. This has meant that telcos can no longer rely on old revenue streams that depended on subscription plans, infrastructure and bandwidth, as consumers ceased to need them as much.

    Big players in the tech market such as Apple, Amazon and Google offer such OTT services merely using data connections, which removes the need for additional infrastructure.

    Industry experts predict that WhatsApp, Skype and different OTT applications will cause telcos the loss of around US$400 billion in revenue for this year alone.

    How then can telcos, which have invested millions on infrastructure, secure their future despite fewer returns on those investments, or else, face the possibility of growing redundant in the industry.

    Perhaps the bigger question here is not whether there is room in the country for yet another mobile telecommunications company, but to ask whether the existing companies are doing enough to innovate in order to maintain relevance in a quickly evolving industry.

  • Rakuten receives confirmation for MNO launch

    Rakuten receives confirmation for MNO launch

    Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has secured government approval to deploy 4G mobile services in the 1.7-GHz frequency band, and now plans to launch as the nation’s fourth mobile operator in October.

    New subsidiary Rakuten Mobile Network plans to raise up to 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion) to pursue its mobile business, including through an up to 200 billion yen investment by its parent company.

    Rakuten announced its intention of entering the mobile market in December last year. Last month, the company signed agreements  with Chubu Electric Power, TEPCO Group and Kansai Electric Power Co to use the utility companies’ telecoms and transmissions towers and other infrastructure for the planned 4G deployment.

    The company is considering similar tie-ups with other electric utilities to support its goal of achieving nationwide service coverage.

    When announcing its intention to enter the mobile market, Rakuten said household spending on telecoms services in Japan is rising every year and reducing telecoms expenses is considered a major social issue.

    The current mobile market – which is dominated by NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank – is also often criticized as a “coordinated oligopoly”, and the government is in the middle of a thorough industry review aimed at ensuring fair competition, the company added.

    Rakuten has been providing MVNO services under the Rakuten Mobile brand since October 2014, using NTT Docomo’s mobile network, and has racked up around 1.5 million customers.

    The company is targeting at least 15 million subscribers with its mobile operations, which compares to 39 million for third-ranked SoftBank. Rakuten’s foray into the mobile market was contingent on it securing 4G spectrum from the ministry of internal affairs and communications (MIC), which has now granted approval for Rakuten’s plan.

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  • Japan’s Rakuten teams with electric utilities for MNO business

    Japan’s Rakuten teams with electric utilities for MNO business

    As part of its plan to become the country’s fourth mobile carrier, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is teaming up with a handful of local electric utilities to leverage the latter’s infrastructure and facilities to build its own 4G mobile network in Japan.

    The e-commerce firm signed an agreement last week with Kansai Electric Power Co that enable Rakuten to utilize the utility firm’s transmission towers, utility poles, telecoms towers and other facilities and equipment for its planned 4G network.

    At present, Rakuten operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) leasing network capacity from market leader NTT Docomo. The company announced last December its intention to enter the mobile network operator (MNO) business and has applied to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a mobile license to build its own 4G network operating on the 1.7-GHz and 3.4-GHz bands.

    If the frequency band allocation is granted, Rakuten said, it plans to make use of Kansai Electric Power’s transmission towers, utility poles, telecoms towers and other infrastructure in and around Japan’s Kansai region for its base station locations.

    As well as Kansai Electric Power, Rakuten also signed similar agreements with Chubu Electric Power Co and TEPCO Group in March, in a bid to build its mobile network in the most efficient way.

    Rakuten, which plan to invest up to ¥600 billion ($5.6 billion) to build the mobile network, said it will also consider similar tie-ups with other electricity utilities to achieve nationwide service coverage, as it prepares for entry into the MNO business.

    Rakuten launched its MVNO business under the Rakuten Mobile brand in October 2014.  As of January 2018, Rakuten Mobile has over 1.5 million MVNO subscribers.