Comments on: Growing the Telecom crop in Rural India http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/ strategy, management and all that follows ... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:25:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Chandrima http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-5030 Chandrima Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:39:13 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-5030 @ Saurabh: Tried to de-jargonize the post now, hope its easier to understand without having to google out terms @Life style: True, and that is also another reason why the retailer in rural pocket is a far more crucial cog than in urban pockets. The retailer can actually create a pull for the service provider more easily by chosing who he wants to promote. I particularkly feel that the rural telecom battle might actually be won on which service provider gives better retailer incentives! @ Saurabh: Tried to de-jargonize the post now, hope its easier to understand without having to google out terms
@Life style: True, and that is also another reason why the retailer in rural pocket is a far more crucial cog than in urban pockets. The retailer can actually create a pull for the service provider more easily by chosing who he wants to promote.
I particularkly feel that the rural telecom battle might actually be won on which service provider gives better retailer incentives!

]]> By: Life Style http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-4998 Life Style Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:40:31 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-4998 Another critical issue in provision of innovative products is that rural subscribers, especially in developing countries need to be educated on how to use these products as well. With significantly lower literacy rates due to poor education facilities in rural areas, using these innovative products to their fullest potential maybe a concern. Another critical issue in provision of innovative products is that rural subscribers, especially in developing countries need to be educated on how to use these products as well. With significantly lower literacy rates due to poor education facilities in rural areas, using these innovative products to their fullest potential maybe a concern.

]]> By: Saurabh Sunil http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-4958 Saurabh Sunil Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:55:14 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-4958 Your basic premise is that since the incremental cost of delivering Value Added Service is low, it can be used as a revenue driver for mobile telephony in villages. This is correct. But a few things. (1) I had to re-read the article as I was lost in the sea of jargons - MDN, EVD, VAS, RCV/EVD, ARPU and what not! This write-up was definitely not for the general reader. (2) This point is more important. I remember the heady days of 1996 - 1999. Internet had just come. And it promised to change the world. We could go online and chat, shop, travel and so on. Someone legally changed his name to Dotcomguy. Someone made the movie Matrix, in which the villain was a computer code!!! The irony was that the technology was always there. It was the human behavior that we did not know about. Similarly trying to sell VAS at 25 Rs a month (300 Rs a year) to a farmer would require a lot of sales effort. Add to that the problem of convincing the farmer to carry a mobile in his dhoti. There are a lot of other behavioral things that wont be visible from this academic/strategic view-point. I am not saying that it cant be done. All I am saying is that with the quarterly performance cycle that firms have to show, they wont have much time. Maybe the government can do this as it has a much larger planning horizon. We do almost everything that internet promised to do in 1999. Just that we do it in 2009 - a decade late! Your basic premise is that since the incremental cost of delivering Value Added Service is low, it can be used as a revenue driver for mobile telephony in villages. This is correct. But a few things.

(1) I had to re-read the article as I was lost in the sea of jargons – MDN, EVD, VAS, RCV/EVD, ARPU and what not! This write-up was definitely not for the general reader.

(2) This point is more important. I remember the heady days of 1996 – 1999. Internet had just come. And it promised to change the world. We could go online and chat, shop, travel and so on. Someone legally changed his name to Dotcomguy. Someone made the movie Matrix, in which the villain was a computer code!!! The irony was that the technology was always there. It was the human behavior that we did not know about. Similarly trying to sell VAS at 25 Rs a month (300 Rs a year) to a farmer would require a lot of sales effort. Add to that the problem of convincing the farmer to carry a mobile in his dhoti. There are a lot of other behavioral things that wont be visible from this academic/strategic view-point.

I am not saying that it cant be done. All I am saying is that with the quarterly performance cycle that firms have to show, they wont have much time. Maybe the government can do this as it has a much larger planning horizon.

We do almost everything that internet promised to do in 1999. Just that we do it in 2009 – a decade late!

]]> By: Chandrima http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-4956 Chandrima Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:59:55 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-4956 Completely agree Siddhesh. But even before you start looking at the VAS story, basic enablement of usage has to be in place. In this regard Airtel has been doing a better job than most other telecom service providers I believe. They have launched a new service center initiative in the rural belt of Karnataka. Getting help on mobile services has always been a pain for the rural customers and in order to tackle this issue, AirTel has by now set up AirTel Service Centers in main markets across villages in Karnataka and is in the process of setting up more. Completely agree Siddhesh. But even before you start looking at the VAS story, basic enablement of usage has to be in place. In this regard Airtel has been doing a better job than most other telecom service providers I believe.
They have launched a new service center initiative in the rural belt of Karnataka. Getting help on mobile services has always been a pain for the rural customers and in order to tackle this issue, AirTel has by now set up AirTel Service Centers in main markets across villages in Karnataka and is in the process of setting up more.

]]> By: siddhesh http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-4954 siddhesh Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:40:08 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-4954 I think in the rural context, the role of VAS would be even more important (since ARPU is low) A superb VAS based on user generated content would make a crunching difference. Imagine something like a question-answer forum (cell phone based) where farmers can discuss farming related intricacies, which then go on to ppl at monthly package of 25 bucks per month as Voice based messages. There definitely is a market for it. I think in the rural context, the role of VAS would be even more important (since ARPU is low) A superb VAS based on user generated content would make a crunching difference. Imagine something like a question-answer forum (cell phone based) where farmers can discuss farming related intricacies, which then go on to ppl at monthly package of 25 bucks per month as Voice based messages. There definitely is a market for it.

]]> By: Growing the Telecom crop in Rural India « acc3ss.info http://strat.in/2009/09/growing-the-telecom-crop-in-rural-india/comment-page-1/#comment-4938 Growing the Telecom crop in Rural India « acc3ss.info Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:29:44 +0000 http://strat.in/?p=2509#comment-4938 [...] Read more here: Growing the Telecom crop in Rural India [...] [...] Read more here: Growing the Telecom crop in Rural India [...]

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