Digital Lifescapes

The contact center industry stands at a pivotal moment. What began as simple call routing systems has evolved into sophisticated customer experience platforms that leverage artificial intelligence (AI), rich messaging capabilities, and omnichannel communications. The shift from traditional Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) to conversational messaging platforms represents more than just technological advancement; it's a fundamental reimagining of how businesses connect with their customers. Today's customers demand personalized interactions across their preferred channels, whether that's voice, SMS or emerging platforms like Rich Communication Services (RCS). They expect immediate responses, contextual understanding, and the ability to switch between channels without losing conversation history. Intelligent CCaaS Market Development The results tell a compelling story of market evolution and opportunity. According to the Juniper Research latest market study, the global CCa...

Mobile communication channels are important for many enterprises that connect with customers, and new service providers have emerged that offer a comprehensive platform to enable the management of this ongoing interaction. These are the Communication Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) providers. Industry analysts define a CPaaS platform as a solution that enables an organization to communicate with clients via multiple outbound online and mobile channels via a singular platform. There are a number of services that can be considered part of CPaaS platforms, including messaging technologies such as Short Message Service (SMS), Rich Communication Service (RCS) and Over the Top (OTT) messaging applications. Also offered are push notifications, voice services, and email. CPaaS Platform Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the global value of the CPaaS market will exceed $10 billion for the first time in 2022 -- that's rising from $8.6 billion...

Mobile communication apps have experienced significant usage growth across the globe. Modern smartphone software applications provide various forms of voice and data communications that have transformed telecom service delivery. Furthermore, mobile channels have become important for organizations to connect with customers, as online service providers now offer a comprehensive communication solution. These are emerging cloud-based Communications-Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) offerings. CPaaS Platform Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the CPaaS market will reach $25 billion in 2025 -- rising from $7 billion in 2020. CPaaS platforms provide a centralized management service for outbound communications including short message services (SMS), over-the-top (OTT) business messaging, rich communication services (RCS) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) services. The study identified the ability to make payments over services such as RCS and OT...

A creative Open Innovation strategy promotes a mindset for collaboration that is counter to the 'closed silo' approach of most legacy organizations. That said, the benefits of increased openness are apparent. Open technology ecosystems have driven ongoing cooperation in the Global Networked Economy. Open source software (OSS), and to a lesser degree open source hardware, serves as the foundation of IT infrastructure worldwide. It enables many eCommerce platforms and innovative over the top (OTT) service providers to bring new offerings to market quickly. OSS is gradually driving the innovation agenda for communications service providers (CSPs), and by extension, it is now challenging the dominance of proprietary solutions in the telecommunications sector. Telco Open Innovation Market Development OSS holds the potential to play a key role in telco cloud deployments, a market that will potentially grow to $29 billion by 2025, according to the latest worldwide market study...

There has been a significant evolution in the variety of use cases for mobile Application to Person (A2P) messaging. Historically, A2P was used for alerts and as a billing mechanism and carrier for simple content and services, both for one-off downloads or actions (e.g. voting) and for recurring payments. The latter use case has declined in the past 5 years, due to a combination of the transition to an app-based economy, largely driven by card billing and by regulatory action -- in markets such as the U.S. and the UK -- against the many known fraudsters. However, the near demise of this use case has been more than offset by the emergence of alternative opportunities, many of which have themselves been created by consumer adoption of software apps and smartphones. A2P Messaging Market Development A recent worldwide market study by Juniper Research found that revenues from Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging will exceed $9 billion by 2022 -- that's up from an estimate...

Digital TV and online video has seen the battle between Over the Top (OTT) providers and traditional television networks pushed to the forefront. In order to differentiate themselves, and reduce the need to rely on expensive content partnerships, OTTs will produce more of their own entertainment content. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) services -- from leading providers such as Netflix and Amazon -- will drive a surge in OTT revenues to reach $120 billion in 2022, and that's up from $64 billion in 2017. In this environment, the traditional expensive bundle of pay-TV services will surely continue their decline. Original Content Market Development The upside market opportunity for the innovative low-cost video entertainment providers is significant. The in-depth market research also uncovered that over a quarter of global households will eventually subscribe to SVOD services by 2022. The new research foun...

Industries that have always embraced the adoption of new technologies are not immune to being digitally disrupted by savvy new market entrants. The global telecom service provider market had a long history of relative stability. Now, however, business model disruption is pervasive. The market is in a state of rapid evolution, with telecommunications companies now competing against more progressive web-scale companies. They can deploy a new service in a matter of hours, thereby delivering real-time experiences to their online subscribers. As more customers demand instant access for digital services, ABI Research predicts many Tier One telcos will transform into digital service providers (DSPs), in order to compete more effectively with over-the-top (OTT) players -- such as Google and Facebook. Digital Services Market Development "Digital transformation is the ultimate goal for telecom network operators. For instance, T-Mobile Un-Carrier digital offerings likely played a hug...

Mobile network service provider revenue loss from 'grey route' application-to-person (A2P) traffic will amount to $62 billion over the next 6 years, despite the increased deployment of security measures, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. Historically, the A2P service offering was used for mobile alerts or as a billing methodology and transport for simple content and services -- both for one-off downloads or actions (such as voting) and for recurring transaction payments. The study discovered that the high levels of grey route traffic -- essentially A2P messages masquerading as P2P (Person to Person) messages and delivered via non-interconnected routes -- could be attributed by the scale of the price differential between A2P and P2P. Mobile Messaging Market Development Today, the trend has become more pronounced as mobile network operators have offered high-volume, low cost SMS bundles to cope with the challenge of Over-the-Top (OTT) mes...

Online video entertainment has disrupted most legacy media companies that refused to acknowledge the market opportunities beyond traditional pay-TV services. This shift has become a global phenomenon. The impact and implications are far-reaching. Western European over-the-top (OTT) television and video revenues will more than double between 2015 and 2021. However, growth rates within each nation will vary considerably, according to findings from the latest market study by Digital TV Research. "OTT adoption is already high in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the UK, but it has been much more muted in other countries -- such as France, Spain and Portugal," said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research . European OTT TV Market Development OTT TV and video revenues in Western Europe will reach $14.64 billion in 2021 -- that's up from $6.40 billion in 2015. From the $8.25 billion in revenues to be added between 2015 and 2021, the UK will contribute $2.30 ...

The world now contains 8.1 billion connected smartphones, media tablets, personal computers, televisions, TV-attached devices and various audio devices. On average, across the whole globe, this Internet-connected device installed base now equates to about four devices per household. "The proliferation of media-enabled connected endpoints has implications for media consumption, media production, broadband infrastructure, and the business itself of network management and traffic discrimination," said Merrick Kingston, principal analyst at IHS . Smartphones have already contributed about half a billion new devices to the market each year. Media tablet adoption has also grown rapidly. But that overall growth is not spread evenly. Case in point: by the end of 2020, the forecast smartphone-to-tablet ratio will rise to nearly 10:1, according to the latest worldwide market study by IHS. Gains for Mainstream Market Development The IHS study also noted the big changes in the...

Pay-TV service providers across the globe are responding to the emergence of agile video entertainment competitors. The over-the-top (OTT) television and video service revenues for 17 countries within the Asia-Pacific region will reach $18,396 million in 2021 -- that's up from $5,741 million in 2015. Furthermore, China will overtake Japan in 2016 to become market leader in the region. "Smartphone users will continue to drive OTT TV and video audiences. Smartphones are a more important OTT TV reception method than fixed broadband in the Asia-Pacific region -- with the notable exceptions of Australia and New Zealand," said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research . Advertising on OTT sites will remain the main revenue source, bringing in $8,745 million by 2021 -- that's up by $6 billion from $2,609 million on 2015. China will supply $4,911 million of the 2021 total, with Japan providing a further $1,475 million. OTT Video Market Development in APAC ...

Over-the-top (OTT) video adoption continues to disrupt the legacy pay-TV market. In its latest analysis on the online streaming media adapter market, ABI Research examined the impact of new lower-priced devices and the mounting pressures within the global consumer electronics industry. People now have many ways to stream video entertainment. Moreover, the ongoing introduction of new, cost-efficient devices with innovative functionality has the capability to swiftly change the competitive landscape. Meanwhile, traditional pay-TV providers continue to increase service subscription and set-top box rental prices. "The rise of Google's Chromecast devices, along with the Amazon Fire TV Stick, generated interest in the stick or dongle form factor, but these successes speak more toward pricing than design," says Michael Inouye, principal analyst at ABI Research . Streaming Media Market Development In China, according to the ABI assessment, the streaming media stick form f...

Video entertainment in the typical American home has changed dramatically during the last few years. Streaming subscription video content to a TV set is now commonplace. There are several market drivers that are apparent, as a result of the consumer transition to over-the-top (OTT) video. The incumbent service providers had initially ignored the trend. Pay-TV providers had hoped that the baby-boomers would continue to tolerate perpetual price increases. Television broadcasters assumed that millennials would simply learn to accept the twenty minutes of commercial advertising that interrupts every hour of TV entertainment. In hindsight, both of these scenarios actually helped to fuel the introduction, market development and ongoing adoption of alternative -- often much lower-cost and more appealing -- video entertainment offerings. "Ownership of connected televisions and streaming media players is accelerating while the availability of streaming content is simultaneously expan...

Video entertainment viewing in the typical American household has evolved. Gone are the days where broadcast television gained the lion's share of consumer attention. Meanwhile, legacy pay-TV services have struggled to keep pace with shifting customer preferences and numerous alternative lower-cost offerings. Average monthly spending on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services among U.S. broadband households increased from $3.71 per month in 2012 to $6.19 per month in 2015, according to the latest market study by Parks Associates. Parks examined new business models emerging from the increasing consumption of over-the-top (OTT) content in the American video entertainment market -- including new experiments in content windowing. How the OTT Trend Disrupted the Market "Multiple content players have held onto traditional content windowing strategies for years, but OTT technologies and emerging business models have finally forced these companies to experiment with new w...

The American video entertainment realm has continued to evolve during 2015. Market development in the traditional pay-TV sector has been particularly difficult. However, there are still some significant upside opportunities. Baby Boomers comprise nearly a third of U.S. adult broadband users and are significantly more likely than other segments to subscribe to traditional pay-TV services. According to the latest TDG Research study and data-driven analysis of this vital but oft-overlooked consumer segment, this makes them excellent candidates for the high-revenue sales of operator value-added services. As TDG first noted earlier this year, the race-to-the-bottom that currently defines pay-TV operator strategy -- that is, the targeting of Millennials with low-cost bundles -- has deflects marketing resources away from efforts to grow ARPU among other subscribers. "Unlike Millennials, Broadband Boomers are quite loyal to their current operators and have very deep pockets,"...

Mobile network service providers are focused on defending their traditional voice services from new market disruption that threatens to further erode their legacy business model. Armed with new technology and bold plans for more rapid deployment, savvy operators are responding to the incursion. The number of VoLTE (Voice over LTE) connections is now anticipated to reach 2 billion by 2020, rising from an estimated 123 million in 2015, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research . The research uncovered that the marked improvement in voice quality, enabled by VoLTE, is likely to spur increased adoption of the technology by mobile network service providers across the globe. Besides, given the downward trajectory of voice service revenue trends, wireless network operators must act swiftly to slow the decline. Juniper found that direct revenues from VoLTE will likely be limited at first, with increased availability of compatible smartphones driving adoption o...

If you're thinking of holding on to your current smartphone because there's no compelling reason to upgrade, well you're not alone. The smartphone market in America has plateaued, now that most mobile network service providers removed phone subsidies and Apple offers unlocked iPhones directly to consumers (bypassing the U.S. wireless carriers). In addition, the ongoing use of Facebook Messenger app is negatively impacting the legacy SMS revenue stream. When you combine that with the ongoing adoption of other popular mobile messaging software -- such as WhatsApp -- the trend is really troubling to mobile operators. Besides, considering the outlook for Voice over Wi-Fi apps -- such as Google Hangouts Dialer -- the escalating OTT bypass trend now has the potential to cause a major market disruption. More mobile subscribers could downgrade to calling plans with fewer bundled cell network voice minutes. That being said, comScore released data from its latest study of key...

As the video entertainment market evolves in America, the traditional pay-TV service providers are seeking to maintain their subscriber base in the face of rising operational costs related to content, which often directly translates into higher service fees for their customers. Meanwhile, short-term promotional discounts are still being applied to attract potential new customers to the traditional pay-TV offerings. But it's becoming increasing difficult to compete with the value-based pricing of the over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) . According to the latest market study by Leichtman Research Group (LRG), 83 percent of all U.S. households nationwide subscribe to some form of pay-TV service. That being said, the percentage of households that subscribe to a pay-TV service is down from 87 percent in 2010. "Changes in the dynamics of the pay-TV industry are not driven just by those exiting the category, but also those coming into the category,...

Most modern smartphones can connect to Wi-Fi routers for broadband internet access. Voice calls placed over that connection, via a software app that converts voice to data, can provide superior quality communication when compared with the cell provider's mobile network. There are now numerous ways to apply this capability, essentially bypassing the mobile network service provider's traditional offerings. As awareness of these use-cases increase, so does market adoption. Over the Top (OTT) voice app service providers are expected to see an increase in their revenues by 2020, reaching over $10 billion and representing a five-fold increase over the next 5 years, according to the latest global market study by Juniper Research . Moreover, their market study uncovered that OTT mobile software application providers -- such as Skype and WhatsApp -- would experience a significant rise in traffic and revenue potential as 4G network roll-outs accelerate, thereby increasing their cap...

Mobile network operators and internet service providers have a significant new upside opportunity. The global market for mobile Location-Based Services (LBS) will demonstrate solid growth in the next few years, according to the latest market study by Berg Insight. Berg believes that LBS related revenues will to increase from €10.3 billion in 2014 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.5 percent to reach €34.8 billion in 2020. "The increase in usage of LBS has resulted in significant revenue growth, especially for leading players such as Google, Facebook, Baidu, Tencent, Twitter and Yahoo," said André Malm, senior analyst, Berg Insight . Together, these companies accounted for an estimated 60 percent of the total global LBS revenues in 2014. The market development outlook includes the established leaders continuing to gain momentum. The social networking and entertainment category -- comprising services like mobile social media, messaging apps and games -- is no...