Social media usage affecting our revenue, telcos cry out

The increasing usage of “over-the-top” services by customers is adversely impacting on the revenue of the traditional telecom platforms, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has cried out.  ALTON’s Chairman Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, who said this in a statement yesterday, added that unless urgent steps are taken by the industry’s regulators, the […]

The increasing usage of “over-the-top” services by customers is adversely impacting on the revenue of the traditional telecom platforms, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has cried out. 

ALTON’s Chairman Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, who said this in a statement yesterday, added that unless urgent steps are taken by the industry’s regulators, the adverse impacts of OTT might derail the progress being made in the sector.

“The growing adoption of OTT services by customers instead of traditional telecoms services will occasion global revenue loss of $386bn over a period of six years (2012 – 2018) for the traditional telecom operators, thus endangering network development’’, Engr Adebayo, who quoted Ovum, an independent analyst and consultancy, said.

He said data had shown that voice minutes had been declining in Nigeria due to the impact of OTT, adding that voice minutes had been declining while VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) has been increasing

He said: “OTT Data flux has been increasing as shown with the 2016 data. Telcos are losing money due to this trend. Urgent action is required to save telcos further loss due to activities of OTT players who do not invest in infrastructure”.