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| Saturday, January 31, 2009 |
| USO for Free Handset + Value Added Services Applications |
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 The Indian Cellular Association - ICA has an excellent pitch to use the surplus funds lying in the Telecom Universal Services Obligations - USO pool account.
ICA has pitched to bridge the digital divide by providing FREE Cellphone handsets to the folks in rural India below poverty line where it is still a dream to afford the basic handset. Additionally, ICA has pitched for the following,
- 50 mn handsets with 100 free calls per month - basically enables them to cut on traveling which costs them a lot more
- Mobile should be equipped with AM radio to enable them to listen to local language content
- Fund VAS service providers to develop content for Rural India and then distributed at low cost or FREE.
- Establish Services and Repair centers in rural areas
- Tax conession on VAT in rural areas
ICA estimates the cost of this entire operation to be Rs 5,000 cr [$1 bn]. We think this is an excellent pitch to reach out to the BPL families. Also, as telecom networks penetrate deeper into rural India, it is essential that other parts of the mobile ecosystem reach there to make it a success. Do you have any other views to support our rural folks ? |
Published on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 1:26 PM  |
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| Wednesday, January 21, 2009 |
| Go Wireless at 50 cents - INR 25 |
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 The battle for supremacy in the 2G Wireless Space has intensified with Reliance Mobile [GSM] and Idea Cellular launching SIM cards to end customers at Rs 25 or 0.5 USD. [Yes that is correct] When we did a ground price check, this scheme was available in Mumbai Circle as well as Karnataka. Idea did a brand makeover of Spice Tele in Karnataka very recently after taking over the company. Idea is offering lifetime validity on the same :-)
However, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are maintaing the entry cost at Rs 99 for Lifetime Validity Pre-Paid Pack, down from Rs 195. Call charges are at Rs 1 / minute which looks like a lobby. An upfront revenue recognition policy and launch mode operations in several service areas suggest that the potential dent on revenue could be higher for IDEA relative to Airtel, in our view.
Reliance Mobile GSM which is still testing its network and operations will likely to intensify the tariff war once confident of smooth services. Do you see any business case for operators fighting for new license / spectrum now ? |
| Published on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 12:50 PM |
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| Monday, January 19, 2009 |
| SMS Compression + Clever Text Completion |
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 Here is some innovation in the usual SMS text messages which is very popular in India. CleverTexting has developed a technology which enables to compress your SMS message and also lends a helping hand while composing the message with completion by prediction much more than dictionary. All this is possible by CleverText embedded mobile software.
Their compression technology enables you to send 210 char SMS packed into a single SMS [160 char] Their algorithm does ithe compression. However, the receiving party must also have the CleverText software to read the message. If they have the software installed, then the message automatically opens with CleverText software.
For prediction and completion, CleverTexting uses this insight on the nature of languages to make the predictions as you type. And it does so very accurately. It is a dictionary less system and in fact is so lightweight that is has no dictionary in it. CleverTexting does the prediction based on the statistical nature of a particular language which is essentially the popular phonemes and syllabary extant in a language, that works very well.
It is available for FREE download and also works with your touch-screen phone like iPhone. Do let us know your feedback to us. |
| Published on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 4:30 PM |
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| Monday, January 05, 2009 |
| Reliance GSM Tariff Plan Analysis |
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 Reliance Communications has started selling GSM based SIM cards in Mumbai, primarily from its own Web world outlets. Each SIM/ connection costs Rs25 and comes with a six-month "validity" (i.e. incoming allowed without recharge commitment).
The details of the Package are as follows:
- Upfront cost of the pack (SIM card) in Rs 25
- Validity 6 months
- Talktime (for local calls and SMS) Rs10/day for the first 90 days
- Recharge commitment None
- Local calls 1.00 / minute to any phone
- NLD calls (top-up required) 1.50 / minute to any phone
- SMS (local) Rs/SMS 1.00
- Other features Unlimited free on-net calls [includes Reliance GSM + CDMA] within at night (11pm-6am)
In the long run, RCOM's prepaid package is not sustainable and hence GSM incumbents do not need to respond aggressively. We believe Reliance is just testing the network readiness with this pre-paid package.
Going forward, Reliance is likely to offer On-Net Calling FREE and hence when Mobile Number Portability comes into vogue, one can expect a big churn into Reliance if they have offer smooth migration and no billing complaints as was the case in 2002 when Reliance Infocomm was launched. |
| Published on Monday, January 05, 2009 at 2:37 PM |
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