A new report from U.K.-based analyst firm mobilesquared and telecom-web convergence company tyntec has found that 75 percent of mobile network operators are missing out on opportunities to monetize Application-to-Person (A2P) traffic that travels across their network.
According to the study, the problem stems from the fact that less than a quarter of operators have deployed or updated their SMS firewall since 2012, leaving them unable to control gray routes and other security threats and identify legitimate traffic. Without the firewalls, gray routes currently account for two-thirds of A2P SMS traffic, leaving only a third of A2P traffic available for monetization, tyntec’s study found.
“SMS firewalls pave the way for clean and legitimate A2P messaging growth,” explained tyntec Director of Carrier Management Stefan Kuehne. “Through using an effective, properly managed SMS firewall, MNOs can gain control over their A2P traffic, and open up their secured networks to legitimate A2P use cases, providing them with a termination fee for each message delivered to their subscribers.”
The report found that most operators reported year-over year SMS A2P growth of between 6 percent and 36 percent. Approximately 56 percent of respondents experienced A2P messaging traffic growth within the last year, compared to 49 percent the year prior. Ovum has estimated that a2P SMS traffic will grow to 2.21 trillion in 2017, representing nearly a third of all messaging traffic.
The study has indicated that some operators have avoided making the firewall upgrades necessary for A2P monetization because they “associate the rise of A2P SMS with increased spam and illegal messaging attacks on subscribers via their networks.”
Mobilesquared’s Chief Insight Analyst Nick Lane said this sentiment is somewhat misguided.
“The A2P SMS revenue generating potential for mobile operators is effectively the Eighth Wonder of the World – at least in the wireless space,” Lane said. “Mobile operators have been scouring the landscape to find ways of getting in on the OTT communications act, but with next-generation SMS firewall solution, they can access the even greater enterprise messaging traffic opportunity.”
Alongside the report, tyntec announced the launch of a SMS Firewall solution that can block unrecognized traffic contributing to SMS spam and help them effectively monetize A2P messaging.
