Viber has definitely been growing quickly over the past few months. At the beginning of February, the VoIP and Messaging app reached a grand total of 160 million users. In less than a month, 15 million users have been added, or an average of 750,000 users per day. Overall, the app has been getting an average of 400,000 users per day since it passed the 140 million user mark in December. The app has been available since 2011 on Windows Phone, Android, iOS, and more.
Viber CEO Talmon Marco made the announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain today, saying “”Sometimes services take off because of pure luck… sometimes it’s timing. It’s the soul that you put into this. The proof is in the pudding.”
Marco said also announced that Viber has signed a partnership with Indonesian carrier Axis to offer reduced price packages for consumers in that market using Viber’s free messaging services. This is coming on the footsteps of similar agreements by Nimbuzz, Skype, and LINE, all of whom are looking to get back on the good side of the carriers, who have accused OTT (over-the-top) services such as Viber and Skype of stealing revenue and customers. Marco said carriers and OTT players can work together to the benefit of both, arguing that the consumer who signs up for the lower cost Viber package with Axis will end up upgrading to more expensive data services.
At the current rate, Viber should surpass the 200 million user mark by April. Hopefully by then, we’ll see that ever-elusive WP8 HD voice support alongside the BB10 version set to release that same month.