BARCELONA – Give Jan Koum points for chutzpa. Standing on a stage with three huge wireless operators whose messaging revenue his company WhatsApp has ravaged over the past few years, he announced that by the end of the second quarter of this year, WhatsApp will also offer voice services.
Texting and voice is a multi-billion-dollar business for cellcos worldwide, but that revenue has taken a serious hit with the likes of WhatsApp (465 million users) and Koreas Kakao (130 million) offering free cross-platform communications tools to consumers around the globe.
Of course, WhatsApp was acquired last week by Facebook in a deal worth $19 billion and today, on the fifth anniversary of WhatsApp`s launch, Koum made the voice announcement, saying it will be available on iOS and Android by the end of Q2, with BlackBerry and Windows to follow. Interestingly, Koum uses a BlackBerry, which he showed during the session, noting he loves the keyboard.
While the other panellists (VimpelCom CEO Jo Lunder, Tele2 CEO Mats Granryd and Millicom CEO Hans-Holder Albrecht) on stage with Koum and Kakao founder Sirgoo Lee stressed partnerships with OTT services like those so that wireless companies don`t just become “dumb pipes“, with the messaging services offering games and photo-sharing and other services beyond messaging, it`s clear this disruption is only just beginning.
