Do we still need a phone number?

Telephony as we know it today in a mobile phone is going through massive changes. Why would I place an international phone call via the mobile operator low cost and usually low quality international and long distance service when I can use WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts etc that all offer a high definition voice experience towards destinations that implement HSPA or LTE? More so the messaging experience offered by the same apps is far superior and features rich. Video calling is a norm. When is the last time you video called using the standard dialer in the mobile phone?

All of these OTT (over the top) services with the exception of WhatsApp don’t need a phone number… your dialogues are with friends, people and not phone numbers or email addresses. In fact, Facebook is making efforts to make the phone number irrelevant (https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/01/heres-to-2016-with-messenger/). Facebook for Business allows interactions with customers without the need of a phone number.

At the beginning of the year I had the same theory as David Marcus, VP of Messaging Products at Facebook, that the phone number will disappear. With the proliferation of WebRTC even the mobile carriers can ditch the phone number. Then Google announces a new messaging application (Allo) that surprisingly will use the phone number as identity and not the usual Gmail handler. Therefore, Allo will embrace the WhatsApp approach. Why is that? Will the phone numbers win and remain with us for many years to come?

Think about the following scenario – WhatsApp just made public that they will open the application to businesses. WhatsApp with its massive user base will change the way businesses interact with customers. Imagine services like Expedia, Orbitz, Uber, Amazon, UPS having a WhatsApp logo for allowing customers to subscribe for notifications. More than that, the application will allow calling too and most likely video calling in the future via simple APIs.

Today, the alternative is SMS but a business needs to setup costly agreements and connectivity with SMS aggregators (i.e. Syniverse, OpenMarket) or with RTC service providers such as Twilio (which would also offer APIs for calling). Another problem with SMS is that the delivery is not all the time confirmed. Isn’t easier and richer to only connect to the APIs offered by WhatsApp? Application providers and users win.

WhatsApp is using the phone number for several reasons – persons usually have one phone number versus multiple email addresses, address books mostly contain phone numbers, phone number it is globally used for telephony, it is rather trivial and natural to ask for a phone number than for a Facebook friendship.

The outlook of providing a simple, compelling communication service for businesses to interact with customers makes Allo to chose the phone number too. Businesses have been collecting customers phone numbers for ages. Phone number will win and will continue to carry messaging and telephony services but those services will be carried out by OTT applications because the paradigm of “intercarrier and roaming” is broken, expensive and obsolete.  The phone number is used as a simple identity handler and not for routing anymore. Ironically in the mobile industry the phone number is issued and supported by carriers – they provide CALEA, portability, the SIM and support the cost of all that. WhatsApp will make the SMS and carrier telephony irrelevant; not the phone number.  Twilio and SMS aggregators would have some serious competition.

I wouldn’t be surprised in two-three years to see mobile carriers offering data only plans with no phone number attached.