A2P SMS and OTT: Threat or Opportunity?

Monetizing A2P and the threat of OTT players

A2P messaging (application-to-person messaging), also known as enterprise or business SMS, is a type of SMS messaging technique where a text is sent from a software application run by an enterprise to a consumer's device. Application-to-person (A2P) messaging allows customers to interact with businesses through their personal cellular data connection in a one-way line of communication. The growth in the digital and applications market has resulted in operators and enterprises monetizing A2P messaging services.

As the demand for A2P communications rises across all areas, business spending on application-to-person (A2P) messaging reached around USD 32 billion in 2022 analysts predict the global A2P messaging market size is expected to grow to USD 72.8 billion by 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 3.2 % however, operators will have different chances depending on the country.

Nowadays, foreigner SMS Hub are generating Millions of dollars by monetizing this new revenue stream, but not all Mobile Operators are taking advantage of this!

How the threat of OTT players made monetization of A2P messaging a priority today

With the decline of Person-to-Person (P2P) messaging, enterprises quickly turned to A2P messaging as part of their customer outreach strategy. However, when Over-The-Top (OTT) services entered the market with free voice and messaging applications there was a visible shift in the customers' preferences.. To keep up with the expansion of OTTs, existing messaging service providers and mobile operators need to find strategies to prevent the leakage of their revenues to OTT players and make A2P monetization a priority.

The Demand for this enterprise SMS grew during the pandemic. For instance, in March 2021, a leading service provider reported a 90% rise in demand for its platform owing to the COVID-19 crisis. Further with the disruption of the supply chain, enterprises across the globe are witnessing a sudden surge in customer queries. As more people have adopted online platforms, the trends of notifications, transactions, and alert traffic have increased. This has fueled the demand for A2P SMS across the industries.

Businesses are relying on driving customer interactions with the help of channels such as A2P SMS. Operators are, however, unable to monetize the majority of the generated traffic. The top challenge that operators face in monetizing A2P messaging is fraud which according to research estimates a revenue leakage of 9.4 percent of overall A2P revenue.?

For operators and enterprises, the monetization of A2P messaging services is not limited to the introduction of new technologies and strategies that allow personalized, targeted interaction with the customers but also includes setting up tools to prevent spamming and revenue loss due to grey routes.

This is where JustKonnekt by InMobiles steps in as an essential need.

While a major problem that operators need to address is the loss of traffic and leakage of revenue to grey routes that encompass low-cost international messaging via indirect routes, JustKonnekt prevents traffic loss to grey routes and successfully monetize A2P messaging services, since it allows operators to install an SMS firewall that simultaneously filters and blocks unsolicited traffic whenever an attempt is made to infiltrate the network and convert unauthorized grey routes to white routes.

How operators can best leverage A2P messaging to revive messaging revenue through JustKonnekt

There are several ways for operators to leverage A2P messaging services to generate the desired revenue using JustKonnekt SMS Firewall by inMobiles

• Installation of JustKonnekt SMS Firewall which continuously filters and blocks unsolicited messages from unauthorized sources on the network, and can also transform grey areas to white, resulting in an increase in revenue.
• Closing grey routes through JustKonnekt firewall either with the help of an SMS firewall upgrade or by ring-fencing the network to block grey routes.
• Introducing a tracking and reporting system through JustKonnekt A2P Monetization that provides real-time reports on the kind of traffic. An operator receives the traffic volumes, source, et al.
• Installing JustKonnekt as a single platform to monetize the A2P traffic using cloud-based integration. Access to an API would allow integration into any operational support system/business support system or other third-party systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Ensuring a sustainable long term monetization: A future path

The introduction of inMobiles' JustKonnekt SMS firewall in the network is an important element in ensuring that monetization is sustainable as it can result in an increase in revenue due to the conversion of grey routes to white and the filtering of spam messages. Enterprises should consider the performance and operational simplicity of the service, followed by total monetary investment.

This can also be combined with a third-party system such as inMobiles' cloud technologies or with protocols such as RCS to maximize the generated revenue.

Eliminate the shrinking, the lost revenue, and the defeat; be smart to partner up with the perfect companion. To find out more about InMobiles' JustKonnekt SMS Firewall and A2P Monetization features or other solutions, book a demo with our experts at [email protected] or visit www.inmobiles.net