My Presentation on Mobile VAS in India at MoMo Bangalore:
The presentation was meant to throw up some perspective on numbers/strategy – so take a look and do share your perspective.
We had an interesting debate whether voice is king, whether bundling works or not – so more on that later.
Thanks Ashish for the interesting collection of facts and its analysis.
In the opportunities part, I wonder if mobile payments will click in rural areas. Very few people in rural India have a bank account, which can be linked over mobile for such transactions. Unless the talktime becomes a tradable currency, transactions over mobile will need more idea and innovation to take off.
Premium SMS sent to short codes like 58888 can be an opportunity for future. Reality shows and such contests are already making huge money out of it. I am surprised to see subscribers with low account balance not shying off from sending a premium SMS. Utilities like updates for PNR, traffic, weather, cricket, stock quotes makes great sense for such premium SMS, and are currently being offered in market. I see a lot of space for innovation there and bringing more utilities under its ambit.
@Vibhushan, Great comment!
Here is how I look at it – if you deliver value, people pay.
Classic case is CRBT – its personalization / expression of who you are!
At the same time, mobile payment is still in infancy, if you look at the rural market. But cos. like cashnxt/eko are doing amazing things over there – so expect major uptake.
nice post