29% of mobile operators surveyed believe GSMA offering Joyn is not the solution to successfully compete with messaging service providers such as WhatsApp and Skype

London, 13 August 2013: GSMA-backed standard Joyn is struggling to drive significant operator support, limited by its complexity and slow speed to market, according to new research by mobilesquared and mobile interaction service provider tyntec.

The international survey among more than 40 MNOs (mobile network operators) and MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) reveals that only 7% of these mobile operators now believe Joyn is the solution to combat the threat of Over The Top (OTT) voice and messaging services such as Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp. A further 29% of operators believe that Joyn had the potential to be the solution, but it has taken too long to launch — seven years from concept to commercial launch compared to six months for WhatsApp. Of the operators surveyed, 29% believe Joyn is not the solution. In addition 36% are uncertain of the impact the GSMA-based standard will have on their ability to tackle OTT players.

Qualitative research supports these figures with operators citing that, for Joyn to truly challenge the global OTT powerhouses, it would need to have a similar global offering, which would only be achieved if every mobile operator signs up to the scheme – and the belief across the industry, and not just among mobile operators, is that this will not happen.

WhatsApp presents greatest threat to operators’ revenues
Although Joyn is struggling, interest in providing OTT-type services is on the increase, with 36% of mobile operators partnering with OTT providers, up from 32% in 2012. This is despite the fact that MNOs and MVNOs still consider OTT services to pose a real threat to their revenues. 36% of operators believe WhatsApp presents the greatest threat, followed by Google and Facebook, which both received 21% each of mobile operators’ responses, and was followed by Apple with 14%. Interestingly, Skype only attracted 7% of mobile operator responses.

José Garcia, Vice President of Sales & Carrier Relations for tyntec commented, “Operators have to act now if they want to off-set their declining voice and SMS revenues. Because Joyn is looking less favourable, many mobile operators are now looking into alternative OTT strategies and have moved away from blocking or imposing surcharges or lowering the quality of the service. Instead of creating their own OTT solution, they are now looking into new opportunities by expanding their A2P SMS offering or partnering with OTT providers. Both options allow them to participate in the success of OTT services and open up new revenue streams.”

Operators generating revenues from off-net access to OTT
For over 10 years, tyntec has been successfully working with international telecommunication service providers and internet companies, helping them achieve mutually beneficial partnerships. By partnering with tyntec, operators can generate revenues from off-net access provided to OTT in various ways such as renting mobile phone numbers, additional SMS services, voice and data traffic or branded app services.

tyntec can identify any traffic stream that is hitting the operator’s network on a signalling level. This full transparency and control of the incoming traffic stream is a pre-condition for operators to provide connectivity to OTT services.

Note to editors:

- Marketed by the GSMA, Joyn is the consumer brand name given to Rich Communication Services enhanced (RCS-e). RCS-e is an upgrade that marks the transition of messaging and voice capabilities from Circuit Switched technology to an all-Internet Provider world. For consumers, it has the potential to combine voice and SMS with instant messaging or chat, live video sharing and file transfer across all devices and networks.

- The research was compiled by analyst house mobilesquared. This original research was conducted between May and June of 2013 via international interviews with over 40 MNOs and MVNOs by means of an online survey, desktop research, personal contact in conferences and meetings as well as the observations of the analyst while attending conferences and events.