Navigating the Messaging Landscape
Empowering Telcos in the Face of Evolving Messaging Challenges
Challenged by the complexities of sustaining SMS services within a competitive market landscape, telcos find themselves at a crossroads. As P2P SMS traffic and revenues witness a decline, telcos must strategically position themselves to navigate the changing tides.
The Shifting Dynamics of SMS: A Challenge for Telcos
P2P SMS traffic and revenues are facing a downturn, driven by the saturation of messaging apps in numerous countries. Omdia estimates a substantial decline in P2P SMS revenues from $52.8bn in 2023 to $28.6bn by 2028, with traffic following suit. Despite this, the universal availability of SMS across networks and devices mandates that telcos continue to support it within their 5G networks and beyond.
The vitality of A2P (Application-to-Person) SMS traffic emerges as a compelling reason for telcos to persist in supporting SMS. A projected growth in A2P SMS revenues, with an expected increase in traffic, signals the permanent importance of SMS as a communication service.
Investment Decisions Amidst Challenges
Telcos face critical decisions in investing in SMS infrastructure amidst the backdrop of declining P2P SMS traffic and revenues. Balancing the need to mitigate potential negative impacts on A2P SMS against threats from various market vectors like the invasion of messaging apps into business messaging, exploits like Artificial Inflation of Traffic (AIT)/SMS pumping, and threats such as smishing, malware, and viruses, adds another layer of complexity.
Navigating the ‘Build vs. Buy’ Dilemma
When it comes to replacing or upgrading their messaging platform, telcos often face the ‘build vs. buy’ dilemma. Building a platform can be expensive, time-consuming, and complex, while buying off-the-shelf may result in a mismatch of capabilities. Vendor-neutral platforms emerge as a strategic solution, allowing telcos to purchase a platform and seamlessly integrate their own back-end systems using APIs, offering flexibility without compromising on capabilities.
Vendor-Neutral Platforms: Straddling Dynamics
A vendor-neutral platform straddles the dynamics of ‘build vs. buy.’ Telcos can leverage this approach to integrate their own back-end systems, such as third-party billing systems, ensuring a tailored solution. Importantly, neutrality in messaging platforms means avoiding competition with telcos and other connectivity service providers, fostering trust rather than rivalry.
The Role of Vendor-Neutral Messaging Platform Providers
In the messaging landscape, only a handful of vendors focus solely on providing platforms for telcos and connectivity service providers without competing with them. These vendors act as the architects, enabling telcos to soar by providing platforms that support, build, and grow messaging businesses. By focusing on the underlying technology, messaging vendors continually adapt their platforms to meet the evolving needs of telcos and connectivity service providers.
As the messaging landscape undergoes transformation, the role of vendor-neutral platforms becomes dominant, offering telcos the tools they need to navigate challenges, stay competitive, and thrive in the ever-changing world of messaging connectivity.
Explore more about HORISEN’s vendor-neutral solutions or download OMDIA’s eBook “Vendor-Neutral Messaging Platforms” sponsored by HORISEN to get to know how these solutions help Telcos soar to new heights.
