In the world of mobile communications, competition isn’t what it used to be. Historically, the greatest threat to regional carriers’ profitability came from national operators providing the latest handsets, aggressive marketing campaigns, and wide reach. Regional carriers have competed with these large, established players through superior customer service, a strong local presence, better networks, and more personal relationships with subscribers.

With Over-The-Top (OTT) applications like WhatsApp and BlackBerry Messenger posing a significant threat co operators' legacy messaging services, the need for mobile network operators to fight back is essential. But what is the best strategy? 

Network Operators Face growing pressure to maintain average revenue per user (ARPU) in the face of increased data demands and competition from new, “over-the-top” (OTT) service providers such as Skype ad WhatsApp…

Much has been written about whether "over-the-top" services, such as Skype, WhatsApp, and iMessage represent a threat to mobile network operators, potentially relegating their role to that of a dumb pipe. 

Moving to next-generation messaging services seems like a logical step in the ongoing evolution of wireless technology, but it appears that some operators are leaving the transition on the back burner.