Mobile operators comment on competition with OTT services

OTT (Over the Top) services are voice and text communication services, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber.

The rising popularity of OTT services causes deep concern among traditional operators, as the growing role of the former results in significant loss of income for the latter.

Itel.am contacted Armenia’s three mobile operators to get comments on their strategies for tackling the challenges from the OTT services and solutions for bringing back previous indices of profitability.

Beeline

“Certainly, competition with OTT services is common for all telecommunication companies worldwide. Beeline consistently works on this issue, trying to find solutions at a state level and cooperating with all involved parties. At the level of the company, Beeline develops new services and moves towards digitization.

As of the moment, the drop of profit from voice services is compensated to a certain degree by the growth of profit from internet services. For that reason, the company continues modernizing the network and expanding it to new areas in the country. Moreover, we work to make our services more convenient and simple for the subscribers, offering multiple service packages (including voice services) at affordable prices.”

VivaCell-MTS

“The impact of OTT services on the telecommunications sector is a global process.
Innovative approaches and solutions counterbalance the mentioned influence. Taking into consideration the existing conditions, our strategy implies providing the foundation of   additional profitability by segments that are more interested in innovative solutions.

Overall, any challenge is a new opportunity for development if managed properly, which is VivaCell-MTS’s main approach in tackling issues. The company will follow the same strategy in case of OTT services, the competition with which is a serious stimulus to elaborate and apply innovative solutions and new business processes.”

Ucom

“According to the data from 2016, Ucom is the only telecommunications company in Armenia, which has so far increased (though gradually) its turnover in comparison to the previous years.  

The recent 3-4 years showed that the decline of European and international telecommunications markets and further transformation brought about the necessity to come up with innovative solutions and create own OTT or digital services.

The developments and transformations in international telecommunications market have also influenced Ucom’s decisions and strategic steps. Last year Ucom presented its U!Pay virtual wallet, MediaRoom mobile television, U!Cloud cloud solutions, etc. This year Ucom introduced the revolutionary Universal Plus offer, providing the subscribers with an exclusive opportunity to combine 2 numbers (Armenian and Russian) in one SIM-card. The subscribers can use the Armenian number for calls in Armenia and the Russian number for calls in Russia.

We will do everything possible to expand the geography of our special offers, turning Ucom into a real pan-Armenian operator.”