While users of mobile video calling services such as Skype are forecast to increase to over 130 million users by 2018, question marks remain over the potential for mobile video calling to generate revenues in its own right, a new report from Juniper Research has found.

The report – Future Voice Strategies: mVoIP, Carrier OTT and Mobile Video Calling 2014-2018 – observed that as with many OTT services, only a small proportion of mobile video calling users pay for the service directly. OTT mobile video calling players are therefore widening their service offering and opening their client bases to third games parties or developing their own apps in a bid to increase monetisation options.

“The role of mobile video calling is becoming clearer,” says the report’s author, Anthony Cox. “With a number of OTT players having gained a critical mass of users through the provision of free video services, those players are now introducing an array of premium products or creating revenue-share partnerships to create a viable revenue stream.”

The report also found that new standards such as WebRTC (Real Time Communication) will improve integration of mVoIP functionality into web sites and mobile Apps, paving the way for the development of new services such as direct access to sales call centres from websites.

Further findings from the report include:

1. With the arrival of 4G, most MNOs will adopt VoLTE, increasing their network efficiency, though direct revenues will be limited.
2. Specialists such as Kineto and Amdocs have found a niche in creating OTT monetisation strategies for multinational operators.
3. MNOs and rival OTT carriers are collaborating on creating advanced “carrier OTT” voice services, potentially representing the most important change in the voice market since the advent of VoIP itself.

A new whitepaper, ‘Voice ~ Hitting the High Notes’ is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full report and the attendant Interactive Forecast Excel, which enables clients to interrogate the assumptions behind Juniper’s forecasts and create alternative future outputs.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.