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Voice & Messaging

How can telcos defend and extend Voice and Messaging revenues, and what strategies are other players employing to create new services and new value? Please see below for current content, and for future content please see here.

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  Facebook + WhatsApp + Voice: So What?
So Facebook is buying the mobile IM app WhatsApp for $19bn including $4bn in cash, and WhatsApp is launching a voice service. Why, and what are the consequences and lessons for telcos and others? (March 2014, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream.)

Facebook + WhatsApp + Voice: so what? March 2014
  Cisco, Microsoft, Google, AT&T, Telefonica, et al: the disruptive battle for value in communications
Disruption is taking place across the voice and messaging space - not just with telcos. Established vendors and de facto technology standards are also being challenged. For example, Cisco, the market leader in enterprise telephony, finds itself being disrupted in key markets by other vendors offering more horizontally integrated solutions. This report provides an overview and insight into a number of vendors and technologies in the voice and messaging markets, including telco platforms and services, and LTE, RCSe, and WebRTC. Three telco case studies (Vodafone, Telefonica and AT&T) are also provided, examining their activities, products and results. (February 2014, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream.)

Voice Messaging Tech Cover Feb 2014
  Self-Disruption: How Sprint Blew It
How Sprint’s necessary shutdown of Nextel turned into a commercial disaster, losing valuable customers, reputation, and market share. Our analysis shows that amdist the drama of the Softbank deal and the complexity of a major network upgrade, SMB customer needs were neglected, and its competitors (VZW, AT&T and T-Mobile) stepped smartly in. (February 2014, Executive Briefing Service)

How Sprint Blew It Feb 2014
  Communications Services: What now makes a winning value proposition?
Consumer and enterprise communications behaviours are changing significantly around the globe as new solutions meet core needs more effectively and change customer expectations. This extract from our latest major report provides insight to the changes, and describes effective strategies that meet these evolving needs for both incumbents attempting to defend existing services and innovators seeking to disrupt and create new value. (December 2013, Executive Briefing Service)

Psychological and social advantages of voice, SMS, IM, and Social Media Dec 2013
  The Future Value of Voice and Messaging
Our new research shows how telcos can slow the decline of voice and messaging revenues and build new communications services to maximise revenues and relevance with both consumer and enterprise customers. It includes detailed forecasts for 9 markets, in which the total decline is forecast between -25% and -46% on a $375bn base between 2012 and 2018, giving telcos an $80bn opportunity to fight for. It also shows impacts and implications for other technology players including vendors and partners, and general lessons for competing with disruptive players in all markets. It looks at the impact of so-called OTT competition, market trends and drivers, bundling strategies, operators developing their own Telco-OTT apps, advanced Enterprise Communications services, and the opportunities to exploit new standards such as RCS, WebRTC and VoLTE. (November 2013, Executive Briefing Service). Future Value of Voice and Messaging Cover Small
  The Great Compression: surviving the 'Digital Hunger Gap'
In the next 10 years, many industries face the 'Great Compression' in which, in addition to the pressures of ongoing global economic uncertainty, there is also a major digital transformation that is destroying traditional value and moving it 'disruptively' to new areas and geographies. For the incumbent industry players we call the near-term results of this disruption 'The Digital Hunger Gap' – the widening deficit between past and projected revenues. This is our analysis of the top-level findings of the Silicon Valley Executive Brainstorm. (March 2013, Executive Briefing Service, Transformation Stream.)

10 Year Hunger Gap Mar 2013
  Sprint-Softbank: how it will disrupt the US market
The Japanese and French markets have both been disrupted through the entry of low-cost competitors offering substantial price reductions. We think that Softbank’s acquisition of Sprint is a signal that the same is to soon come in the US given Softbank’s experience as a successful disruptor in Japan. (January 2013, Executive Briefing Service).

Digital Commerce Flywheel December 2012
  A Practical Guide to Implementing Telco 2.0
How can communications services providers (CSPs) transform their businesses from Telco 1.0 (infrastructure-led stasis) to Telco 2.0 (sustainable innovation-led growth)? An essential, step-by-step guide to the implementation of new Telco 2.0 business models, providing telecoms executives and their partner companies with a systematic approach to capitalise on new opportunities and neutralise potential threats. The report outlines robust frameworks and methodologies for selecting the right Telco 2.0 strategy for each organization, identifying and implementing the key opportunities, and avoiding expensive and time-consuming mistakes. (December 2012, Telco 2.0 Transformation Stream) Telco 2 Implementation Cover
  Europe's brutal future: Vodafone and Telefonica hit hard
In our recent briefing European Mobile: The Future's Not Bright, It's Brutal, we predicted that European operators faced a grim future. New figures from Vodafone and Telefonica suggest that, unfortunately, the grim future is arriving fast. (November 2012, Executive Briefing Service, Transformation Stream.)

Vodafone results Nov 2012
  European Mobile: The Future's not Bright, it's Brutal
New analysis by the Telco 2.0 team shows that the mobile industry’s combined revenues from voice, messaging and data services in the EU5 economies (UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) will drop by nearly 20Bn Euros, or 4% per year, in the next five years, and by 30Bn Euros by 2020. (October 2012, Executive Briefing Service)

Euro Voice Brutal Future October 2012
  Innovation Strategies: Telefonica 2.0 Vs. Vodafone 2.0
Telefonica and Vodafone are both European-based tier 1 CSPs with substantial revenues, cash flows and subscribers. They have both expanded beyond Europe – Vodafone into Africa and Asia and Telefonica into Latin America. However, their Telco 2.0 strategies are rather different. In this extract from our forthcoming report, A Practical Guide to Implementing Telco 2.0, we outline their Telco 2.0 strategies and their benefits and risks. (September 2012, Executive Briefing Service, Transformation Stream.)

Telefonica Strategy 2.0 Chart
  Euro telcos: fiddling while the platform burns?
Most executives across the European telecoms industry accept that the current telco business model is in decline (the ‘burning platform’), but wholehearted action to create sustainable new models is not in place. We identify the key barriers and next steps to overcome them in this top-level analysis of findings from our recent EMEA Executive Brainstorm. (July 2012, Executive Briefing Service, Transformation Stream.)

UK Services Revenues: Actual and Forecast (index)
  Strategy 2.0: Lessons from Vodafone’s success in European SMB Communications
Vodafone have been quietly stealing a march in the European SMB communications market with a well executed strategy centred on its OneNet cloud-based product. We look at how, including comparisons with BT, Telenor, and others. (May 2012, Executive Briefing Service)

Vodafone Voice Analysis May 2012
  Dealing with the 'Disruptors': Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft/Skype and Amazon (Updated Extract)
An extract from our 284 page, 124 chart, strategy report that analyses the business models, markets, objectives, strategies and modus operandi of the major adjacent players, and their current and future impact on the telecoms industry. The report identifies the areas and options for competition and co-operation, and outlines potential strategies for interacting with each player. It also draws the combined activities of the digital empires - telcos, so called 'OTT players' and others - into the context of the new 'Great Game', the battle for power and value in the emerging digital economy. (Page updated February 2012, report published November 2011, Dealing with Disruption stream) Google Apple Facebook Microsoft Skype Amazon Telco 2.0 Disruptor Report Cover
  Your Text is on Fire: OTT's to burn 40% SMS revenue by 2015
In four years' time, Telco SMS revenue will decline on average by around 40% across Europe and the Middle East according to the senior execs at this month's Telco 2.0 brainstorm in London. The main cause is competitive pressure from 'OTT' alternatives (Facebook, Skype, Google, BBM, etc). Mobile voice isn't that far behind, with a 20% decline foreseen. What can be done and what is the role of RCS-e? (November 2011, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream).

EMEA Messaging Decline reasons Nov 2011
  Voice 2.0: Strategic Threats and Opportunities
Voice & Messaging 2.0: Strategic Threats and Opportunities, Presentation by Phil Laidler, Director, Consulting, STL Partners. Which of the disruptors - Apple, Facebook, Google, Skype - is the biggest menace? Presented at EMEA Brainstorm, November 2011.
 Strategic options for telcos - resisting the disruptors in voice
  Voice 2.0: Disrupting the Telcos with Rebtel (Rebtel Presentation)
Voice & Messaging 2.0: Disrupting the telcos with Rebtel, Presentation by Andreas Bernstrom, CEO, Rebtel. Will smartphones bring a wave of mobile VoIP disruption? Presented at EMEA Brainstorm, November 2011.
 The adventures of a voice rebel
  Voice 2.0: RCS-e - the next generation of communications services (Vodafone/Deutsche Telekom Presentation)
Voice & Messaging 2.0: RCS-e, the new generation of communications services?, Presentation by Cenk Serdar, Director, Data and Communications Services, Vodafone Group, and Rainer Deutschmann, SVP Core Telco Products, Deutsche Telekom. Is RCS-e our future? And if so, what kind of future? Presented at EMEA Brainstorm, November 2011.
 Strategic options for telcos - resisting the disruptors in voice
  Customer Experience 2.0: Back to the Future of Voice (BT Presentation)
Customer Experience: Back to the Future of Voice. Colin Lees of BT on the future of the UK voice service and the transformation of BT's service platform. Presentation from EMEA Brainstorm, November 2011. (November 2011, Executive Briefing Service, Cloud & Enterprise ICT Stream)
  Customer Experience 2.0: Hosted Unicomms for Business - a major opportunity (Cisco Presentation)
Customer Experience 2.0: Hosted Unicomms for Business, Presentation by Fabio Gori, Head, SP Marketing, EMEA, Cisco Systems. Sizing the opportunity of business communications in the cloud. Presented at EMEA Brainstorm, November 2011. (November 2011, Executive Briefing Service, Cloud & Enterprise ICT Stream) Understanding SMBs and enterprises' needs
  Apps & Telco APIs 2.0: their role vs Facebook, Skype, and iMessage
Many popular communications apps such as Facebook, Skype and iMessage bypass telcos’ core networks by going ‘over the top’. Yet smartphone apps, and in future HTML5 web apps, also present new distribution opportunities for telco services including voice, messaging, and payments, as long as developers are motivated to use telco APIs. How should telcos approach the 'App Economy' to best defend existing revenues and develop new opportunities? (August 2011, Executive Briefing Service)

Apps & Telco APIs Figure 1 Drivers of the App Market Telco 2.0 Sept 2011
  Apple iCloud/iOS: Killing SMS Softly?
Our analysis of how Apple's iCloud, iOS5, and MacOS developments build value and control for Apple's digital platform, and their consequences on other parts of the digital ecosystem, including the impact of iMessage on text messaging. (June 2011, Executive Briefing Service)

Apple iCloud logo in analysis of impact of iCloud/iOS on digital ecosystem
  Strategy 2.0: What Skype + Microsoft means for telcos

In theory, Microsoft and Skype have the resources, the brands, the customer base and the know-how to shape the future of telecoms and become a strategic counterweight to Apple and Google. Can they do it – and what should telcos’ strategy be? (June 2011, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream).

 Microsoft Skype Logo Image Small
  Is Ribbit worth $105m to BT yet?
How is the strategic rationale for BT’s acquisition of Ribbit as their ‘Voice 2.0’ platform working out? We spoke with Crick Waters, Ribbit's co-founder and EVP. (July 2010)
  Enterprise Voice 2.0: Ecosystem, Species and Strategies
Analysis of the structure of the Enterprise Voice 2.0 market ecosystem, the business models and value networks within it, and conclusions as to what operators can do in order to benefit from it. (April 2010, Executive Briefing Service)
  Voice & Messaging 2.0: New API Use Cases
‘Communications-Enabled Business Processes’ (CEBP) are a key application for voice and messaging APIs. This Briefing Report illustrates three new real world examples of integrating communications into end-user business applications using web services to access telco APIs. (February 2010, Foundation 2.0, Executive Briefing Service)
  Telenor’s Voice 2.0 Strategy: ‘Mobilt Bedriftsnett’ Case Study
Telenor’s new ‘Mobile Business Network’ integrates SME’s mobile and fixed phone systems via managed APIs, providing added functionality and delivering greater business efficiency. It uses a ‘two-sided’ business model strategy and targets the market via developers. (December 2009, Executive Briefing Service)
  Voice and Messaging 2.0: Innovators' Directory 2009
The Telco 2.0 review of the most significant non-telco Voice and Messaging innovators in terms of competitive threat, route-to-market partner opportunity, and opportunity to learn from. (Executive Briefing, Oct 2009). 
  Google Voice: one of the key battlegrounds for Telcos
Google Voice, managing Customer Data, and Location Services will be among the key battlegrounds where Telcos' emerging business models and Google are likely to clash, according to a new Telco 2.0 Briefing to be published in October. It is previewed here. (September 2009, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream)
  Voice 2.0: Beyond ‘Unified Communications’

Four leading Voice 2.0 platforms demonstrate the business model opportunities from delivering 'Communications-Enabled Business Processes' (CEBP) to the highly diverse enterprise and SME market. (July 2009, Executive Briefing Service)

  The Toolkit of Voice 2.0 - Linux, Asterisk, OpenSER
A new open-source technical toolkit (based on Linux, Asterisk, OpenSER and perhaps OpenSS7) is emerging for Voice 2.0 applications. (June 2009, Executive Briefing Service)
  IfByPhone: a Two-Sided Voice Platform: "like salesforce.com with phones"
IfByPhone, an example of a voice based two-sided Business Model used in Comms-Enabled Business Processes, using Open Source Telephony. (April 2009, Executive Briefing Service)
  Defining the Digital Generation: Young Today, Grey Tomorrow
The activities of today's youth will cascade across the generations. How should service providers prepare for the customer of the future? (March 2009, Executive Briefing Service)
  The Digital Generation: Introducing the Participation Imperative Framework
The "Participation Imperative Framework" describes new customer behaviour and needs that will drive future product and service innovation. (Feb 2009, Executive Briefing Service)
  Consumer voice and messaging 2.0 - understanding and meeting user needs

Telco voice and messaging products have barely changed in 50 years – but the internet offers Operators new threats and opportunities. This briefing reviews what really drives communication so Telcos can enhance their core services for the Telco 2.0 world. (Executive Briefing, Jan 2009)

  Voice telephony: death or glory?

A review of key business opportunity and future business model scenarios in the core voice and messaging business. (November 2008, Executive Briefing Service)

  BT and Ribbit's evolving platform strategy

A closer look at BT's Ribbit platform strategy and how it can transform BT's business model. (September 2008)

  Vodafone: Too much data, not enough vo and fone?

Analysis of Vodafone strategy at a key time of leadership change. (June 2008, Executive Briefing Service)

  Voice and Messaging 2.0

Voice and Messaging 2.0 is Telco 2.0's analysis of the industry's traditional core business, traditionally c.80% of $3 trillion Telco revenues, based on our unique insight into the emerging competition, the industry value chain, and original research into user needs.

There is a great wave of change and innovation in voice and messaging, although many telcos are missing out. Innovative new players are stepping in and there is opportunity for telcos is to work with them rather than compete - there are genuine opportunities as well as threats. This report illuminates the evolving opportunities and threats, and provides an invaluable guide to success in this exciting new world. (April 2008)