Telco Companies Count €30mln in Lost Revenue to Voice and Chat Apps

TIRANA, May 24

It seems that Albanian telecommunication companies are going through the same global trend that the telco industry has been facing during the recent years. Customers are using over-the-top (OTT) services such as voice and chat applications instead of traditional voice and data services.
According to the data provided by the Albanian Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP), mobile and landline telecommunication companies in the country faced an annual revenue decline of 13 percent in 2017. In other words, they lost over Euro 30 million in revenue to voice and messaging applications.
This is related to the fact that Albanian citizens switching to new options of communications, especially for international calls.
“Customers are using Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, FaceTime, etc. Given that the majority of Albanians own a smartphone, they use voice applications instead of the classic phone call,” Ilir Zela from AKEP said.
Other data confirm that in 2017 mobile data usage increased by 22.1 percent, voice calls declined by 2.6 percent, while the number of SMS text message sent declined by 13percent.

News Source: TCh
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