Andre Yoskowitz
13 May 2012 22:05
Market research firm Strand Consult has reported on the recent decline in SMS revenue for carriers and the reasons for it.
While it is well known that global instant messaging services like BlackBerry Messenger, iMessage, Google Talk and WhatsApp are having significant impact on the carrier's text messaging revenue, Strand added one more name to the list; Facebook.
Says the report: "If you look at how most operators market and sell SMS, you will see that most operators charge the customer for each individual SMS he or she sends. In practice this means that the customer has a choice between sending an SMS that the customer knows costs money, or alternatively use his flat rate data subscription to write a message via Facebook if the recipient is on Facebook."
Strand continues: "In many ways one can compare Facebook's development in the mobile industry to how the Internet affected the media industry. Market players like Google, Skype, Twitter and MSN are only marginally important to the mobile industry compared to Facebook. The biggest difference between Facebook and Google is that Facebook is a communication tool that people use to keep in touch with their family and friends every day."
Facebook has 920 million users, and over 425 million access the site from their phones.
The report also notes that in nations where text messaging plans are unlimited and bundled (like in the U.S.), Facebook's impact was muted.