Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, intent on making the telephone obsolete, stated Wednesday that 10% of global mobile Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) occurs through Facebook Messenger. He added, according to TechCrunch, that because mobile VOIP’s audio has superior audio to that of traditional phone calls, growth “is going to continue very quickly.”
Messenger began offering free mobile VOIP calling in April of 2014. In March, Messenger started offering free VOIP calls to Android. On, Wednesday it offered the same service to WhatsAPP on iOS.
Zuckerberg asserted that Messenger and WhatsApp will remain separated, but noted that the two combined could comprise “a large established network of people who will be able to receive the calls” for VOIP calling to gain success.
Zuckerberg pointed out that 45 billion messages a day are sent through Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Messenger and WhatsApp dominate in the U.S. and Europe; the only country where they trail a competitor is China. (Facebook cannot be used there, so WeChat rules the roost.)
“We’re not going to charge for it, the way we’re not going to charge for text messaging. We’re focused on offering higher quality services for free than you can get by paying for them,” Zuckerberg added.
Facebook had a slight fall in the first quarter of 2015, as it did not surpass earnings estimates for the first quarter in 2 ½ years (though it barely missed, accruing revenue of $3.54 billion; the estimate had been $3.56 billion). The company blamed the weak euro for the modest downturn.
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