INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The personal messaging app Telegram has for the first time overtaken WhatsApp in traffic volume in Russia, the Vedomosti business daily
reported Monday, with specialists predicting the Russian-founded messenger will also go beyond the user count of its Meta-owned rival this
year.Telegram accounted for 60-80% of overall traffic exchanged in Russia by the start of 2023 and has actually continued to grow ever
since, according to an analysis by Russias leading 4 telecom operators pointed out by Vedomosti.WhatsApps traffic in Russia apparently
stayed unchanged over the very same period
Traffic volume reflects not just the appeal of the service, but likewise just how much heavy material-- mainly video-- users move through
it, Vedomosti quoted an unnamed representative of the Beeline company as saying.Telegram was established by Russian-born tech billionaire
Pavel Durov, who left Russia in 2014 following disagreements with the federal government over user personal privacy and losing his creation,
the popular social media network VKontakte, to Kremlin allies.In addition to its messaging service, Telegram functions as an important
platform for broadcasting uncensored info and is utilized by numerous independent Russian reporters in addition to officials.A Russian court
banned WhatsApp parent business Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram, as an extremist company soon after Moscows soldiers invaded
Ukraine in early 2022, however stated the ruling would not affect WhatsApp.Vedomosti reported that WhatsApp still boasts the highest variety
Professionals prepare for Telegram-- with user numbers in Russia growing five times faster than WhatsApp-- to take its spot as quickly as
Telegram remains in 2nd location after WhatsApp in terms of the number of users, but Telegram is the fastest-growing messenger, a
representative of the Tele2 provider was priced estimate as saying.Telegrams day-to-day user count totaled 48.8 million individuals, or
around 40% of Russias internet users, in January 2023, compared to WhatsApps 76 million daily users
Telegram today is much more than a messenger, its a full-fledged media [platform] with a large number of channels, Maria Saykina, an
analyst with the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), told Vedomosti.
