7% of Surveyed Mobile Execs Think Joyn Will Succeed; Only 7% See Skype as Top Messaging Threat

Only seven percent of 40 surveyed mobile executives believe Joyn--the GSMA-backed messaging service, is the solution to combat over the top voice and messaging services such as Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.

Another 29 percent of surveyed mobile service provider executives say Joyn had the potential to be the solution, but it has taken too long to launch and is too complex. Joyn would need virtually ubiquitous global operator support, and many respondents doubt that will happen.

The study was conducted by mobilesquared and sponsored by messaging service provider tyntec.

The international survey also found that 36 percent of respondents are uncertain of the impact the GSMA-based standard will have on their ability to compete with OTT messaging suppliers, the

Not so surprising, for a firm such as tyntec that competes with Joyn, the study suggests the threat to revenues continues to build, and more mobile service providers decide they should cooperate with, not compete with, the leading over the top messaging services.

Some 36 percent of mobile operators now partner with OTT providers, up from 32 percent in 2012, according to tyntec. About 36 percent of operators believe WhatsApp presents the greatest threat, followed by Google and Facebook, each of which is viewed as the greatest threat by 21 percent of respondents.

Apple was viewed by 14 percent of respondents as being the top threat.

And times have changed. Remember when Skype was seen as the top challenger? The survey found only seven percent of respondents viewed Skype as the ost significant threat to revenues.

Perhaps that is because mobile operators already are resigned to losing international voice revenue, while messaging revenue is viewed as the latest battlefield.