Julio Alvarez and Mandy Kruger from Digicel say that operators can triumph over OTT players such as WhatsApp if they focus on value and features.
More than 1,200 senior executives from mobile giants including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Hutchison and China Mobile attended the GSMA Wholesale Agreements and Solutions Group (WAS#4) summit in November, which previously took place in Asia and Europe.
The event was hosted at the Convention Centre in Dublin by local mobile software player Anam.
Digicel’s Julio Alvarez and Mandy Kruger revealed a new approach to tackling OTTs that is more about cooperation than defence.
“We are looking to monetise differently through transactions and be able to grow a network for customers based on value that the customers see, and be able to provide that infrastructure,” Alvarez said.
Kruger said that the best way for mobile operators to fight back is to become more and more customer-centric.
“We can do this by looking at what customers are using, looking at the big data, the usage patterns, and then working with OTT players and partners to help drive the customer engagement and usage.”
Words by John Kennedy
