YouTube mulls partnership with telcos

CEBU, Philippines —  American video sharing website YouTube vows to partner with telecom companies in emerging markets, including the Philippines to reach out to the next billion potential users.

Ishan Chatterjee, You Tube director for product partnerships for APAC (Asia Pacific) emerging markets, said the company is currently on active stance to partner with telecom companies to make YouTube accessibility more affordable to the new bunch of video users.

Chatterjee referred to the new internet users in remote places who are just newly introduced to internet access, as well as the people who are using feature phones.

Feature phones are mobile phones that incorporate features such as the ability to access the Internet and store and play music but lack the advanced functionality of a smartphone.

YouTube recorded an average of two billion visitors a month. This is expected to increase significantly as the video sharing website is working to be accessible even to those non-smart phone users, while trying to offer affordable YouTube data rates to its next target market.

Chatterjee was one of the key speakers at the Asian Carriers Conference (ACC) held at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.

YouTube identified at least another a billion bunch of cellphones users around the world who are yet to appreciate the use of data or video streaming, including expressing themselves to the world to see.

These markets he said is considered as YouTube’s “low-hanging-fruit,” who can be easily tapped to explore video streaming or video sharing given the right devices and affordable data rates.

Thus, the collaboration of YouTube and telecom companies is deemed crucial in providing access to the rest of the world, particularly to those who are yet to experience the power of Internet and the unlimited access to the world via YouTube.

YouTube was created by PayPal employees as a video-sharing website where users could upload, share and view content. The Internet domain name "www.youtube.com" was activated on February 2005.

In 2020, YouTube’s net advertising revenues in the United States are projected to reach 5.47 billion U.S. dollars, up from US$3.88 billion in 2017. That year, the video platform generated US$7.8 billion in global net ad revenues.