Surely a surprise for those who believe that mobile Internet will just not take place – be it the handset factors (small size/processing power), or bad connectivity and above all, lack of good content!
As per TRAI’s latest numbers, the number of Indians using their mobiles to logon to the internet has increased from 16 million in 2006 to 38 million in 2007 (both GSM and CDMA).
While Broadband numbers stay at 2.69 million and there are just 22 million PCs in the country (of which only 30-40% have Internet access), mobile Internet seems to be the logical area of growth.
Players like Bharati and Spice have witnessed ~10% of user base using mobile Internet and even analysts are of the view that data usage is becoming a very significant source of revenue and will outpace voice-based VAS services by 2011.
What’s your take on mobile Internet? I find it surprising that if mobile Internet is happening in India, why is m-commerce lagging behind?
I am still trying to believe the numbers! 38 million users use mobile handset to browse Internet, well pleasantly surprising. But as far as I know, people just use mobile phones to check their emails or search local places.
Its not clear if this 38 million mobile internet users are actual users or not. Business World had also claimed something similar. the basic data/gprs scheme on GSM Operators has no monthly fixed cost mostly or has minimal cost now a days. That is the port 80 data/gprs access for website access. Airtel prepaid charges 2 rs per day and Vodafone doesnt charge per day cost but per kb transfer. i belive mostly users will be in this data/gprs plan. On this schemes its not possible to plug your mobile handset as a modem to the pc/laptop.
Full access plans like mobile office from Airtel and Vodafone access from Vodafone are quite costly. Airtel MO is 15 rs per day and Vodafone access is 200 rs per month cost and additional data transfer charges. Reliacne CDMA charges 0.50 per minute on their default data plan. Assuming the cheapest plan of Airtle MO 15 rs per day..still its comparable with any broadband (so called) plan from MTNL/BSNL/TataIndicom. For the same amount of 15 rs you can be online and get better speeds.
data/gprs needs to be cheaper on mobile handsets for the users to actually use it.
regarding mcommerce. looks kinda difficult. firstly to get the current Indian mcom systems working on your handset is quite a task. secondly the issue is with security. we are not comfortable giving our credit card dteails on phone. so we can kinda forget giving our cc dteails or bank details over the sms/application on the handset. third issue is if sms sending/receiving is part of of the mcom system we wouldnt pay a dime extra for those short code smses. same goes for data/gprs based applicatios sitting on the handset. need to get data activated for that and pay the operator data charges for using the mcom application. i belive personally that for any product/service to be a mass usage product/sevice in India we need to get the pricing/cost right..selling on the convience factor wont work out…
@Random : there are multiple ways mcommerce can be targeted – for e.g. sms based payment system (like mchek).
but even then, nothing is really happening in mcommerce? Not sure whether that’s because there is no real need to transact via mobile (one can always callup/order online)?
I agree with you on the data/gprs cost and even am surprised to see the reported numbers – maybe trai needs to define what they mean by “active internet user”
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there are multiple ways mcommerce can be targeted – for e.g. sms based payment system (like mchek).
mchek the transcation happens vis USSD on Airtel. not sure if sms sent to “121″ is charged or not…also dont know if USSD is secure or not in the first place…
the cost per sms is an issue. i remember zee lotto on orange network in Mumbai few years back. was a simple and great idea…pick up ur number of digits..send the sms..orange deducts the 10 rs for the lotto ticket price and you get a confirmation sms back that this are your choosen lotto numbers…dont think so orange found any takes for that…if you ask me…the user had to send 2 smses to a short code of orange…pay 3+3=6rs more..total cost per lotto ticket 10+6=16 rs..might as well go to a offline zee lotto outlet and put in 4 rs more and buy 2 lotto tickets instead of one.
as i mentioned…you cant target mcom on convience based platform…it needs to be price based..
but even then, nothing is really happening in mcommerce? Not sure whether that’s because there is no real need to transact via mobile (one can always callup/order online)?
i agree..or it might be cultural for us Indians to call up/order online and make offline payments…u got multiplexes offering voice based mcom…i tried that once…either you need to give you cc details to the operator or punch it via your keypad…was bit uncomfy doing that…
also cc user protection as compared to west is quite lagging….so giving cc numbers over phone/sms/ussd is quite a scary issue….
I agree with you on the data/gprs cost and even am surprised to see the reported numbers – maybe trai needs to define what they mean by “active internet user”
As you mentioned in your moneycontrol article “people are ready to spend money (GPRS download fee) to use something that helps them make smart decisions (i.e. delivers value).” Value for money should be the mantra…lets say stock alerts…people would either need to pay per sms to the respective providers..here they get it free of cost….only with the gprs charges involved….so they are bound to use it….
afterthoughts…Yahoo Go…the app is also doing quite well…neat features…all free of cost…also latest version of google maps mobile….the location is a neat feature….again value added stuff….without buying some paid gps app….and one that i really appreciate as of now is iphone…they got the apps inbuilt on the phone…stock tracker, weather, etc…would be interesting to konw what features google would have on its mobile os….
well..y! Go has done really well in US..too early to say how Indian market reacts to that.
And products like iPhone are a classic case of bundling…but I still dont think Indian market will be very favorable to these products.
in short, if somebody wants a mass adoption, pain reliever is the way to go..
what do you think?
mobile internet has been the holy grail…the orange/lotto stuff was a pain reliever…u could get ur ticket sitting in ur bathroom without the hassle of going outside to buy it physically..but it didnt take of…..
for mobile internet to take off in mass way in India…operators need to get the gprs/data pricing down…wont take off without that…..even if it does with the current pricing then we need some killer app for mobile internet…and that according to me wont be m-com….m-com can be a great pain reliever…can pay for the pizza from the phone or book movie tickets..
the killer app needs to do with the basic function of the mobile phone..”communicate”….this is as far as i understand…
The only place where mcom can really take off big time is for ticketing service..but hey, all the reservations for ticketing is just a call away – so why take the pains of going thru’ the gruelling interface?
We had a great discussion about this in the closing session of MoDeMo. The statistics sound great. Looks like everyone in India prefers logging on to the web via their mobile. But have a closer look. How many GPRS enabled mobiles are out there? How many of them are activated? Given the high cost of plans, how many people actually use it? What do people use it for, to surf websites? Or to quickly check up on mail on the go? Or just to get some entertainment content?
It raises many more questions than answers!
I remember one discussion we had in Barcamp 5 regarding this. I think the conclusion was that its fruitless to talk about actual numbers. What’s more important is the rate at which the numbers are increasing. If we are sure that the Mobile Internet users in India are growing at a fairly quick rate, then no matter what the actual numbers are today, it has to be a great market 2-3 years down the line. In country like India in a space like mobile I personally find this numbers game quite mundane exercise if we are sure that the opportunity is big, do the actual numbers matter?
rajiv- yes..can pick up for ticketing…but as you rightly mentioned..tickets are a call away…irctc has got the mobile app done for railway booking…never heard about anyone using it..all of them use the website….
How many GPRS enabled mobiles are out there?
assuming 50% is the low cost handsets…they wont support gprs..other 50% would support gprs…thats half of the Indian mobile population…tangible enough if you ask me…something like 100 million gprs handsets….
How many of them are activated?
this can be debated..even if they are activated would be the basic gprs plan..port 80 website access….or operators portal access…
Given the high cost of plans, how many people actually use it?
wont find many takers for full access internet plans…2 costly…
What do people use it for, to surf websites? Or to quickly check up on mail on the go? Or just to get some entertainment content?
not sure on above also….no stats available…
Lalit- for mobile internet to be really adopted by the masses the cost has to come down…450 rs per month simply is 2 high..thats more then the ARPU the telecom operators generate per user on a monthly basis. if this kinda pricing continues then mobile internet wouldnt really pick up in true sense..
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Can someone help me understand how a mobile-internet user is defined?
In towns and villages, the Internet services such as examination results, ticket bookings, and commodity trading are provided through a net connection which is enabled by. Reason being: it is far easier and convenient to get a prepaid net connection than getting a landline connection from BSNL. But those Internet users cannot be considered mobile because the browsing is still being done on a desktop machine. I wonder if the above number includes these users?
cheers
nilesh
ACtually there are 4M broadband users, PC installed base is closer to 30M. And there are a total of 49M internet users in the country.
It would be incorrect to surmise that mobile internet is the logical area of growth, cause that gives a very limiting internet experience for the users, especially in areas which are going to be critical to us as a country, ie., education, health, citizen services et al.
The inference I would draw is that broadband deployment is the biggest hurdle to our accessing the internet in a much wider way, and the need to have more and more entities (including the government and Telcos, along with other enabling business set-ups) driving accelerated broadband connectivity through newer and more consumer friendly usage models, including content and service availability.
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I think M-commerce needs more reliable internet service to kick off. I cant trust GPRS or the crappy EDGE to submit my details and keep staring at the screen. I use a lot of internet on my P1i but it is only when I have wifi access (both at my home and office). I was subscribed to GPRS and then EDGe but cancelled them due to terrilble speeds. We need 3G and we need it fast. Mr Raja are you listening
It would be incorrect to surmise that mobile internet is the logical area of growth, cause that gives a very limiting internet experience for the users, especially in areas which are going to be critical to us as a country, ie., education, health, citizen services et al.
Bharati and Spice have witnessed ~10% of user base using mobile Internet and even analysts are of the view that data usage is becoming a very significant source of revenue and will outpace voice-based VAS services
i dissagree with some ppl above.
mobile intenet is used by lot of ppl.me too. and we use it 4 chat, creatind wapsites, downloadind songs, vids etc, and least 4 emails.its like a isolated world and u will know about it only when u entae it
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Do we have data about how many ppl actually use GPRS services -as far as my understanding would go I would like to belive that these are GPRS actiavted connections which genrally comes with all new connections and even if the users go they would not move beyond the On deck services offered by operators.
Also do we have some data on the types of websites these supposedly users visit, me thinks it wouldnt be more thn P**N cricket or Bollywood.
very interesting…
I will arrive in Delhi within a week and would like to get internet connection for my notebook and hope that youn help me to find the best service how:
Here in Europe I use an USB stick which carries a normal phone SIM card and pay according to data volume used, prepaid. ( Flatrate would be much cheaper but that isonly available with minimum subscription of one year which isnot convenient formesince I only stay short time. Same situation I will face in India, oly will stay about one month.
Can I use my USB stick, simply exchanging the SIM card with that of an Indian provider? I guess that should be possible with the same SIM used to connect mobile phones to the internet. If so, would it also work in remote areas? ( e.g. around Karwar / Gokarna in north western Karnataka? )
or would you recomendany other method? whichone? e.g. Reliance data card:
- how much is the buying prize?
- after buying the card, is there any monthly fee with a minimum duration of subscription?
- is there a monthly flat rate or cost depending on volume used?
thank you for any input,
Andreas
ery interesting…
I will arrive in Delhi within a week and would like to get internet connection for my notebook and hope that youn help me to find the best service how:
Here in Europe I use an USB stick which carries a normal phone SIM card and pay according to data volume used, prepaid. ( Flatrate would be much cheaper but that isonly available with minimum subscription of one year which isnot convenient formesince I only stay short time. Same situation I will face in India, oly will stay about one month.
Can I use my USB stick, simply exchanging the SIM card with that of an Indian provider? I guess that should be possible with the same SIM used to connect mobile phones to the internet. If so, would it also work in remote areas? ( e.g. around Karwar / Gokarna in north western Karnataka? )
or would you recomendany other method? whichone? e.g. Reliance data card:
- how much is the buying prize?
- after buying the card, is there any monthly fee with a minimum duration of subscription?
- is there a monthly flat rate or cost depending on volume used?
thank you for any input,
Andreas
P.S. sorry, double post, first erroneously posted as answer to the last coment only