A new study shows that reduced use of SMS is expected to cost operators several billion dollars in the coming years.
SMS celebrated its 30th anniversary at the end of last year. But this means of communication, which was an upheaval for an entire generation, has for a decade now had to endure increasingly tough competition from messaging applications like WhatsApp, Messenger, or those integrated into networks like Instagram. Competition which is increasingly costly for large telecommunications operators. Especially since the trend should only continue to increase.
Professionals turn to messaging
The Juniper Research study, carried out on a total of 60 countries, is without reservation: SMS will experience very difficult years. Indeed, by 2028, their competitors, messaging applications, will see their number of users worldwide increase significantly again and go from 3.8 currently to 5 billion people.
And it is not only this increase that is to be feared. The communications market between professionals and their customers will be increasingly preempted by these messaging services, which will in the future also receive order confirmation messages, or other exchanges of the same type. As a result, nearly 3 billion dollars will be lost in total by the major operators in the sector.
Compensation for the use of telecommunications networks?
Difficult to fight in these conditions. Especially since SMS are not only seen by a certain number of users as rather obsolete, but they are also increasingly used by scammers to try to phish their victims. In this context, messaging applications are seen as more secure.
The solution to reduce losses would be to get large groups to pay for the use of operators’ networks. An idea which has been proposed many times in recent years, and which is once again under discussion at the level of the European Union. But, for this, we will have to confront digital giants like GAFAM, who may not give in.
Source : The echoes
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