Telcos to lose $2.8 bn of authentication revenue to OTT channels over next five years: Juniper Research

NEW DELHI: Telecom operators will lose $2.8 billion of authentication revenue over the next five years to over-the-top (OTT) channels such as WhatsApp and Viber, according to the latest report released by Juniper Research on Tuesday.

“To minimise losses, operators must urgently reassess SMS pricing against competing channels, including OTT messaging apps, or risk losing further authentication revenue,” the research firm said, as it noted the launch of third-party authentication services over OTT applications as the biggest threat to telcos’ authentication SMS revenue.