By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

What’s App and other over-the-top (OTT) applications are “unlikely” to fully replace traditional mobile phone calls and text messages despite their 97 percent penetration of the Bahamian subscriber base, regulators believe.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), unveiling its latest assessment of the cellular market, argued that the need for mobile data and/or Internet connectivity meant that the likes of What’s App, Skype and Viber are not direct replacements for regular mobile calls. And, to communicate, both the receiver and the caller must have the same apps downloaded on their phone.

The study, unveiled just after the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) demanded that industry regulators tax “disruptive” providers of over-the-top (OTT) services to counter their “onslaught” on local carriers, nevertheless conceded the ever-increasing role that such apps and providers are playing in modern communications.

Referring to the findings from a survey of more than 1,000 Bahamian consumers, URCA said: “Current OTT service penetration in The Bahamas is very high, with only 3 percent of respondents stating that they do not use any OTT service. Ninety-three percent of them said they use What’s App to make calls or send messages.

“Seventy-seven percent of them download other OTT apps (Skype, Facebook, iMessage and Viber) so that they can easily communicate with anyone they wish across multiple platforms and devices..... Amongst the survey respondents, 66 percent of them revealed that they mainly use OTT apps for voice calls to other OTT users.”

BTC had previously urged URCA to tax OTT providers because they were making huge profits while enjoying a “free ride”, using its network infrastructure to deliver services to Bahamian consumers without contributing a cent of investment towards its upkeep and build-out.

URCA, though, argued that What’s App and its fellow travellers cannot totally replace traditional mobile calls and messaging. Reliable Internet connectivity, via mobile data or otherwise, is critical to facilitating What’s App calls via voice or video, while there is no interoperability between different OTT applications - meaning that they cannot be used to field calls originating on a different application.

Still, the regulator conceded that there was no denying the popularity of OTT services. “OTT call and messaging services are widely available throughout The Bahamas. Eighty-two of persons surveyed said they have access to mobile data through a smartphone,” URCA added.

“Smartphone and tablet ownership is high in The Bahamas. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said they hold a smartphone or tablet with capability of connecting to the Internet and/or send emails, and 50 percent owned two or more devices with the capability to access the Internet (and/or send e-mail). This high level of smartphone/tablet ownership provides a strong foundation for the widespread use of OTT services in The Bahamas.....

“In addition, 40 percent of users stated that OTT services have impacted their use of traditional mobile call and messaging services. According to them, due to OTT services, they send less SMS (messages), make less domestic and outbound international calls while using more mobile data. Some have even purchased a SIM just because of OTT.”

Elsewhere, URCA confirmed that 93 percent of survey respondents use OTT apps to make calls and send messaged. Some 11 percent and 44 percent, respectively, said they use OTT providers to call fixed and mobile numbers in The Bahamas, while a further 24 percent used the likes of What’s App to call cell phone numbers abroad. A similar percentage said they employed OTTs to send text messages overseas.

“Sixty-two percent said they send less SMS, 59 percent/32 percent make less domestic and outbound international calls whilst using more mobile data (47 percent). Thirty-five percent have even purchased a SIM just because of OTT,” URCA said.

“The average usage of SMS fell consistently from 28 messages a month in 2016 to eight messages a month in 2020.The average usage of domestic mobile calls increased from 92 minutes a month to 133 minutes a month within the period. The usage trends in SMS thus suggests there may have been some substitution from mobile messaging to OTT messaging. While the growth in mobile calling is likely to be a result of mobile calls being relatively inexpensive and convenient.

“The increasing availability of OTT services has not resulted in any decline in mobile connection in The Bahamas. As has been the experience elsewhere, end-users in The Bahamas have not given up their mobile phone service entirely for OTT services as end-users still require a mobile connection and mobile data to be able to use OTT services from any location.”