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'We are wasting too much energy'

'We are wasting too much energy bickering within the industry,' says Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI

Thursday, October 01, 2009

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With 3G and BWA spectrum auction on-way in India, there had been huge enthusiasm among players in value-added services segment of the telecom industry. Simultaneously the industry has also been talking about spectrum crunch. Prasoon Srivastava of CIOL caught up with Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI and discussed some of the alternative connectivity technology and developmental issues in VAS industry. Excerpts:

How is DLNA standard being seen as a connectivity option for providing VAS?

It will be a welcome move and will help resolve most issues today faced by customers and operators / vas companies in managing content. DLNA has been adopted by some of the world's biggest consumer electronics companies. Unfortunately, it has not been talked about in the VAS industry.

We have heard VAS players often discussing Terrestrial Spectrum (TS). Some of the industry experts have said that TS has nowhere been successful for data casting. What is IAMAI's view on it?

There might not be significant information on the success of TS in data casting. However, the real question to be asked is whether it will help operators in the Indian scenario or not? There are several examples of products and services in Mobile VAS Scenario which are typically not successful outside India but are extremely successful in India like CRBT.

If the terrestrial spectrum for private players is open, it will help operators reach viewers in a cost-effective manner especially for services like Mobile TV which will be very expensive for customers otherwise.

Most of the VAS services are IT companies who had been given numerous benefits from government but still the path-breaking technology comes from companies based outside India. Where do you think Indian companies are lagging and what needs to be done more?

Most of the services that are considered to be path breaking are not successful in India keeping in view the customer preferences in India. Let us consider an example of CRBT which is not successful outside India – this is one of the highest revenue generator in India.

However, it should be noted that most Indian companies compete with European and American firms on several products like Mobile Advertising Platform which is considered to be path-breaking. Unfortunately these platforms are not successful in India. I don't think that Indian companies are lagging behind.

Speech navigation is seen as an important medium to bring rural masses on digital road, especially on mobile platform. What are the efforts being made from IAMAI members to develop this kind of services?

There are several initiatives that have been in place to ensure speech navigation picks up in India. Unfortunately, the same language is spoken in 10 different ways within the same state which is a challenge and hence is less effective as of today. However, things are improving and I am sure we will have a complete speech navigation engine in place.

Which are the new regulations/amendments that can boost VAS industry? How much can it contribute to Indian economy?

There is a TRAI consultation paper published last year which make quite a few useful recommendations for the improvement of the VAS industry. If TRAI's recommendations are implemented it would be a major step towards the growth of the VAS industry.

Essentially the TRAI recommendations make three very useful points: a) centralized body for distribution of short codes b) live MIS c) clear commercial terms of accessing the operators' pipes. The recommendations do not get into commercial dealing between operators and VAS providers nor do they have any negative revenue implications for the government and as such we feel they can be easily implemented.

What are IAMAI's expectations from 3G and BWA service providers? How can these expectations help service providers in increasing their ARPU?

We are hoping that 3G and BWA will kick start the use of data services over mobile phones and we would see uptake of more data related stuff entertainment, marketing, information services. Currently the voice ARPUs are so low that any form of data services such as m-commerce, m-payments, m-entertainment, etc will add to the downloads, also USB based modems which are very expensive today [3,500 downpayment + minimum monthly plan of Rs500] will come down leading to more usage. Altogether we are predicting a better scenario for operators as well as service providers. However, the catch is in how the 3G will be used and the fear is that the major use of 3G may be in expanding and improving current voice services.

What kind of support VAS industry is looking from government? How will it benefit industry as well as government?

The main issue is that MVAS should be considered a separate service separate from core services offered by operators [even when such services are offered by operators themselves]. Once you consider this to be a separate industry, government can be approached for incentives as is the case with many emerging industry segments. Currently the debates quite incorrectly are between operators and VAS companies. However, Operators and VAS companies are really on the same side and in my view take up the case of VAS together with the government. The industry has the potential to be bigger than software and services both in India and overseas provided the operators and VAS companies make a common cause and approach the government.

At present, my personal thought it that we are wasting too much energy bickering within the industry and some operators are taking a very short term view. There is a very urgent need to talk across the table and take up issues jointly. Frankly we have so far not approached the government for the correct reasons.

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