The
much anticipated ‘phone launch’ by Facebook come Thursday, April 4, 2013, is
expected to transform the social networking company into full communication
entity, thereby rendering Mobile Network Operators (MNO) incapacitated.
This
is because Facebook would now have the capacity of unveiling voice, Short
Messaging Service (SMS) and data.
Industry
experts at Strand Consult, observed in a research note made available to DigitalSENSE Business News ahead
of the launch that with the estimated 1 billion customers, Facebook will be in
for a big time communication enterprise.
Based
on the aforementioned, Facebook advertising revenue will soar, especially as
the company plans to explore cash flow coming from voice, Short Messaging
Service (SMS) and data to name a few.
According
to reports by Strand Consult, the new Facebook software would be a skin that
sits on top the phone’s operating system, as there would no need to download a
Facebook app to the smartphone before usage and all contacts from Facebook would
be available in the smartphone instantly.
They
noted that if Facebook new concept works, it would become the standard for
phones and operating systems.
“Not
only are OTT (Over-The-Top Content) companies such as Facebook rendering mobile
operators into dumb pipes, but they are making all smartphones into dumb
terminals. If all users want is Facebook, then there are few ways that
operators and phone manufacturers can differentiate with services or hardware,”
the research said.
Facebook
announcement, they said, is an important milestone for investors, for it
demonstrates that the gold mine for Facebook is not advertising, operating
systems or hardware.
“The
key for Facebook is to monetize its users for the very communication it
offers: SMS, voice, and data enabled
services,” officials of Strand Consult disclosed, maintaining that if Facebook
monetize its current offering, it would be bigger and richer than any
telecommunications operator in the world.
Further,
the research noted pointed out that there is no doubt that Facebook’s over the
top (OTT) services have impacted operators negatively, stressing that SMS
revenue for operators is all but disappearing as Facebook enabled instant
messaging.
Emphasising
that voice would also be dis-intermediated as Facebook moves toward Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) capabilities.
“The
Facebook SIM card is the next step. We
can’t think of one operator that would not want Facebook as an MNVO client,”
they submitted.
Remmy Nweke/DSBNews
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