Telefónica Launches Tu Me, Goes "Over the Top" in a Big Way

Telefónica Digital, the global business unit, has launched a new over-the-top mobile app called Tu Me that essentially represents that mobile service provider's effort to compete head-to-head with other over-the-top apps such as Whatsapp, which has been steadily cannibalizing service provider messaging revenue of late.


The app is currently available only for iOS devices, but an Android version is on the way. 


The new app is not Telefónica's first foray into over-the-top mobile VoIP, but it is the first time Telefónica has launched a product globally, including markets in which it does not operate a mobile service.

The global launch makes Telefónica one of the first tier-one mobile service providers to embrace an over-the-top VoIP and messaging application of its own, for global use. 

There being only two fundamental strategies a mobile service provider can take to over the top competition, namely embrace or resist, Telefónica is a bit of a pioneer in taking the "embrace it" route. 

The obvious implication is that, over time, more revenue from legacy voice and messaging operations will evaporate, leaving mobile service providers to create other new revenue streams, which might, or might not, involve embracing OTT services in some way. 

The bottom line is the bottom line. The main reason mobile and fixed network service providers dislike OTT has nothing to do with the technology. OTT cannibalizes existing revenue: that's the real problem.

What should not be forgotten is that where OTT actually enables new revenue streams in new product lines, it is a positive. That doesn't mean any particular service provider should embrace OTT voice or messaging in ways that directly and immediately diminish its important legacy revenue.

On the other hand, neither should some service providers avoid OTT, either. The issue is how to finesse the transition. Telefónica seems to have concluded that it has to be more "proactive." In part, the justification is that the new OTT approaches will create new opportunities to compete out of region. That is key.