In line with what has been discussed in recent annual meetings of AHCIET (American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Enterprises) on international traffic, executives of Telefónica International Wholesale Services (TIWS) and Orange yesterday discussed alternatives to the decline of wholesale voice business and the trend of travelers of not using roaming access, who prefer Wi-Fi instead of data plans.
The first day of the XXXI International Traffic Meeting carried out yesterday in Buenos Aires counted with the presence of Fernando Lombart, VP Voice Business & Sales EMEA at TIWS, and Isabelle Lorin de Roure, VP Marketing Strategy, International Carriers, at Orange.
Lombart anticipated that TIWS will end 2012 with 24 billion minutes, of which 10 billion will correspond to Latin America. In a business that annually generates US$ 3 billion in revenue, the region is expected to have an 11% increase in traffic and a 3% increase in revenues between 2012 and 2016. "OTT services and new media chosen by users -for example, social networks in replacement of SMS- affect business. We must build scale and consolidate the market to focus on profitability and control fraud, and fundamentally differentiate international voice from OTT services", stated the executive.
Faced with options such as Skype, the strengths that can sustain voice is the quality of communication, security and interoperability. Isabelle Lorin said that one could introduce unlimited voice plans and limited data, given that the latter segment generates the main challenges for the retail market.
HD Voice. Orange expects to close 2012 with some 30 billion minutes compared to the 26 billion generated last year. "Our international voice business has grown 15% in volume over the last two years, and in part responded to the introduction of HD voice," said Lorin.
According to data released by the company, 72% of users want their next phone to be compatible with HD voice, 50% of VoIP users will change operator in search of better quality, and national HD calls are 5% longer than regular calls. "Orange already has 4 million users who have upgraded to HD voice, compared to the 1 million registered last year (including the only operation in Latin America, Dominican Republic). It is a required provision for international calls, and we protect the business against the growth of OTT players, because it ensures the quality of service and gives the best user experience. It will also be a key factor to drive the migration to VoIP," said the executive.
Attracting Roaming users. Out of Telefónica’s total de subscribers throughout the region, 10.9% use roaming services. Revenues from this segment make up 6% of total roaming throughout the world. For 2013, TIWS expects to have 80 million Roaming users.
According to data of Analysis Mason presented by Lombart, within connectivity types of travelers, 10% opt for Wi-Fi only, 7% purchase a local SIM, 12% combine Wi-Fi with Roaming, 24% use data Roaming, and 47% do not use their data plan. "We should offer good rates to these users when using VoIP, so they opt for data instead of Wi-Fi. It is necessary that operators create Roaming solutions for prepaid users, improve service quality and make the price offer transparent, in addition to designing business solutions for roaming in border areas. But more than anything, one could advance with packages that combine international minutes with national voice or join international voice minutes with the Internet service, or Voice Roaming with a broadband plan. Another alternative, chosen by the European Union, is to set a daily flat roaming rate of € 1.99 up to 25 MB".