Starting from setting up the revenue share business model (first in the industry) to using the telecom device and network to deliver that extra value, I can never say that we have done what we wanted.
In a country of billions, where mobile user base will be 500 million, we are learning the needs of the consumer and best suited methods to fulfill them, first and fast.
We never needed to “get inspired” from any company’s business/idea. We set out towards our goal and saw many following the same route.
Instead of any one’s success we have tried learning from their failures and our mistakes.
I have been browsing through literature on the method and tools that people elsewhere use to come up with systems that wow us – the lay users. Great products irrespective of their engineering complexity are almost always very easy to use and understand - as one Philips ad said something to the effect that great technology is something that even my grandpa can use. How do they do it? I am still learning but one persistent theme that came up was the use of metaphors.
What is a metaphor then, one may ask? An English literature student will probably provide a technically more correct definition, but in simple terms a metaphor is a tool that explains the meaning of something unknown in terms of things known. Actually, when I say that metaphor is a tool, that itself is a metaphor! What is life? Life is an ocean! What is this world? This world is a stage. All these are metaphors that help us, or at least attempt to help us understand otherwise complex notions and concepts. Metaphors should not be confused with a somewhat similar concept of similes (see-me-lee). Unlike metaphors, similes use comparisons. So, when we say that life is like an ocean, it becomes a simile.
The desktop computer is a household phenomenon now, and we identify with the word desktop as a duck in water – a simile!
Desktop is a metaphor! Computers were expected to be used by people who did not know nor cared to know how a computing system internally worked – try explaining a 32-bit register to an accountant and he will not know. Ask him to manage his book-keeping without the tally tool on his desktop! In the desktop metaphor, the computer screen is as if it was indeed the desktop, on which we place our folders. Once the desktop metaphor is created, we extend it and keep extending it. So, we can have folders on our desktop, and within folders, we can have more folders and documents. Now we know why it is called the Recycle bin – we put our trash there.
Ever worked on DOS? You would probably know what a command line interface is. Much before that, there were punch cards. In computing systems, WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mouse, and Pointers) was first introduced by Xerox as early as 1973. It was however Apple’s Macintosh that popularized the desktop metaphor in 1984, and which became a standard for most if not all of modern day operating systems.
Metaphors are also used in the design of icons. When you see a bell, you know it has something to do with alerts. An envelope is a message. A button is something you push. Some metaphors such as the envelope have become so ingrained that using anything else might confuse or sometimes even irritate the user. So while they come in handy when you are trying to explain some difficult concept to your end user, you may end up doing exactly the opposite by not being careful in the selection of your metaphor.
There is more to your mobile phone than just listening to songs, playing games, checking mails and of course making calls. You could also use it to perform day-to-day utility transactions as well!!
m-commerce, mobile coupons or wallets etc have been in talk since long, but now One97 has added a new dimension to the chronology of events by launching an application for Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway which would enable the commuters to access information, transact, call help centre etc and more by simply sending an SMS to 53030.
Today, at IAMAI + Nokia meetup, I met many of my facebook/linkedin “buddies” for first time in real world! The best thing was that I already had seen their status messages/photo posts and lot of other information beforehand.
At one point of time, offline messaging (read: Email) was the only type of messaging. Now you have instant message, Public Wall, Scrap Book (Orkut), broadcast messaging (Status message of FB / Linkedin) and live updates (Twitter /Jaiku). Top it up with options availble to device specific options : you have SMS, USSD and even PIN messaging (Sending a message to another blackberry device without going to mail server! )
Top it all up with multimedia messaging and variations of Push and Pull. Whoa! there are so many options. Read more »
“Future of VAS is in rural market” is a repeated and much heard statement which sounds convincing enough. But can this influence be more out of benevolence than anything else?
This “assumption”, besides feel good factor, is based on some of the facts like:
1. India lives in rural areas. out of its more than a billion population 72.2% population lives in rural area (2001 census)
2. Urban market has started to saturate ( average urban tele-density is 65 with more than half of the urban areas having tele-density above 70 ; urban areas of Punjab and Chennai already have a tele-density above 100: TRAI, March 2008);
3. Network expansion in rural areas ( almost all the major Telcos have declared their plans to invest hugely in network expansion- read rural India)
4. Increasing income of rural India
Sounds more convincing now….right?
But is it truly true? And how long will it take for this market to overcome urban market? And more importantly how big is this opportunity ?
Some hard facts which may help in answering these questions are :
1. Current Rural tele-density is 9.21 ( all India average is 25: source: TRAI, March 08)
2. Telephone network reach in rural area is already roughly around 80%*
3. Per capita income of rural India is Rs.7000 per annum (ASSOCHAM estimate for 2007-08). All India average is 24,321( CSO estimate for 2007-08)
To further understand this rural market lets to also look at some “not so VAS” facts from another from another “non-essential” industry -FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods).
According to ASSOCHAM, “current FMCG market penetration is about 2% and even more popular products like toothpaste, skin and hair wash, talcum, powder, branded Atta, dish wash, instant coffee, R&G coffee, ketchups, deodorants, jams etc. which currently have less than 30% penetration out of 100 people in rural and semi-urban areas” (ASSOCHAM 2006 press release).
What! 70% people in rural India do not use toothpaste, ketchups, jam…
Forget ketchups… 26% don’t get a have a full meal on a daily basis!
Phew! That sure put things in prespective. Now, let’s get back to the Telecom and look at the ARPU (average revenue per user) of the telephone user: latest data shows it’s around Rs. 290 per month which means if an average rural person buys a phone s/he has to shell out more than half of his/her income! (As mentioned earlier it’s Rs.583 per month for rural India or Rs.7000 per annum).
This explains the low telephone density of 9.21 in circa 2008 despite having a telecom network covering more than 80% rural area and not to forget the “low cost” handsets and “affordable life time” tariffs (remember toothpaste next time you are making a rural tariff plan).
We probably need to remind ourselves that this definitely is a market but with very little (or nothing at all) to spend. So the only thing that may work in this market will be - more value added services for less money.
Starting from setting up the revenue share business model (first in the industry) to using the telecom device and network to deliver that extra value, I can never say that we have done what we wanted.