Mobile network operators are predicted to miss out on billions of dollars of revenue due to undetected “flash calling”, a new report has claimed.
Findings from Juniper Research claim operators could lose out on around $1.3 billion between 2023 and 2027 as the alternative calling method becomes more widely used.
Flash calling leverages voice networks to verify customers, automatically by using the last few digits of an originating phone number instead of asking them to enter a code received by SMS.
Flash calling issues
The report notes that more and more businesses are switching to this extremely profitable channel, rather than depending on conventional SMS authentication techniques. However the inability of operators to detect flash calling traffic is set to result in a decline in SMS business revenue for carriers.
Juniper notes that network operators won’t be able to notice more than 90% of flash calling traffic in 2023 alone, however due to the expanding use of detection services provided by third-party firewall providers, this number is predicted to fall dramatically to 45% by 2026
It suggests operators use voice firewall technologies that can distinguish between flash calling traffic and current P2P voice calls to solve the problem. This strategy would enable operators to monetize flash calling traffic while reducing SMS business messaging revenue losses.
Operators must choose whether to ban or monetize the identified traffic as firewalls identify more flash calling activity, and so to prevent customer annoyance and lower the value of voice channels, the research advises operators to put monetizing traffic first.
The report estimates that as voice firewalls become more extensively used, operators' losses from undetected flash calling will begin to drop year over year as more traffic is discovered and monetized by operators. By 2027, it predicts flash calling revenues will reach $450 million globally, surpassing losses from unidentified flash calling traffic for the first time.
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