Here are my thoughts on the key questions:1. The key barriers to adoption of 3G services included affordability of devices and tariffs, lack of awareness about applications and benefits, limited availability of equipment, and limited network coverage beyond major towns. The project overcame these by conducting research to understand user needs and attitudes, designing an affordable shared video telephony model using existing PCO infrastructure, running an effective awareness campaign, and demonstrating the relevance and utility of the service. 2. PCDs were targeted as the delivery channel as they had an existing footprint in rural areas and customers. PCO owners were open to experimenting with new technologies to generate new business opportunities and attract customers. The rollout of 3G services could potentially revive
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1. This project demonstrated the relevance and utility of video telephony to meet the emotional needs of rural masses in India by launching 3G video calling booths at existing public call offices (PCOs). 2. Research showed a need for visual communication among rural migrants and their families. A pilot launched 8 video booths in Delhi and Bihar, generating 392 demo calls and 127 paid calls over 4 months. 3. Effective communication approaches like van promotions, community meetings, and household visits helped overcome barriers of awareness and affordability, driving behaviour change in migrants' communication habits.
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Similar to Here are my thoughts on the key questions:1. The key barriers to adoption of 3G services included affordability of devices and tariffs, lack of awareness about applications and benefits, limited availability of equipment, and limited network coverage beyond major towns. The project overcame these by conducting research to understand user needs and attitudes, designing an affordable shared video telephony model using existing PCO infrastructure, running an effective awareness campaign, and demonstrating the relevance and utility of the service. 2. PCDs were targeted as the delivery channel as they had an existing footprint in rural areas and customers. PCO owners were open to experimenting with new technologies to generate new business opportunities and attract customers. The rollout of 3G services could potentially revive
Similar to Here are my thoughts on the key questions:1. The key barriers to adoption of 3G services included affordability of devices and tariffs, lack of awareness about applications and benefits, limited availability of equipment, and limited network coverage beyond major towns. The project overcame these by conducting research to understand user needs and attitudes, designing an affordable shared video telephony model using existing PCO infrastructure, running an effective awareness campaign, and demonstrating the relevance and utility of the service. 2. PCDs were targeted as the delivery channel as they had an existing footprint in rural areas and customers. PCO owners were open to experimenting with new technologies to generate new business opportunities and attract customers. The rollout of 3G services could potentially revive (20)
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Here are my thoughts on the key questions:1. The key barriers to adoption of 3G services included affordability of devices and tariffs, lack of awareness about applications and benefits, limited availability of equipment, and limited network coverage beyond major towns. The project overcame these by conducting research to understand user needs and attitudes, designing an affordable shared video telephony model using existing PCO infrastructure, running an effective awareness campaign, and demonstrating the relevance and utility of the service. 2. PCDs were targeted as the delivery channel as they had an existing footprint in rural areas and customers. PCO owners were open to experimenting with new technologies to generate new business opportunities and attract customers. The rollout of 3G services could potentially revive
- 1. There areseveral over-the-top applications ontheInternetikevideo l chatthat areusedbymillions people of globallyor long-distance communication f visual today thatconnectsmotionally. e Acomputer witha high-speed broadband connection isanecessary toolto usethisapplication.
- 2. Background Withthe introductionf 3Gand4Gtelephony-that o gives broadband access andmobility-in India, hereis greatpotential bridge t to theprevailing digital divide thiscountry. in Themostoptimistic forecasts predict asubscription base ! I
- 3. ofabout 350million wireless roadband b subscribers by2015.Thisstill leaves ph viv about abillion people withnoaccesso high-speed t Internet services. ne Research indicated needfor long-distance, communication a social channels wi amongst thepeople the baseof the pyramid. at There significant is migration ofpeople fromruralareas urban to locations forlivelihood, skillenhancement MJ or education.such For people, continuous electricity supply, maintenance ofcomput- the ers, spacend a theminimum ofcompetence level needed tomanage these assets us are barriers totheadoptionfweb-based o applications. Sofar,these people have Fig vid had torely onlong-distance telephone callsasthesolemeans fcommunication. o 3G technology, deployed foryears around theworld, asthepotential meet h to this requirement ofvisual ommunications. c Currently, itsglobal ptake u isbeing driven bytheneed formobile broadband. Currently, thereareno"killer applications" forbase ofpyramidegment duetocomputer s (BoP) literacy, languagend a cultural barriers. 3Ghasthepotential beused to forvarious pplications a inthe form ofbothvoice anddata.Despitehelaunch 3Gservices, t of theacquisition cost ofthistechnology bytheBoP consumer isveryhighas: . Both personssing u thistechnology to have need 3Gdevices. . Bothersons toactivate p need 3Gservices ontheir hone. p which high have tariffs. Hence, allequipment manufacturers andtelecom service providersavebeen h working developing viablebusiness odel hatwouldput thistechnolon a m t ogy ithin w thereach ofthemasses. Ericsson Pvt.Ltd.approached India MART in2010 conceivenddevelop newbusiness odel round to a a m a shared video telephony theexisting ublic Office using P Call (PCO) footprintinthecountryor f takingGservices ruralmarkets. 3 to Marketing Challenges The following themarketing were challenges withrespect faced toimplementation of3Gservices inruralmarkets: . . . . Affordability. Veryhighperceivedndexperienced a acquisitionostof 3G c technology. Awareness. Lowlevelof awareness about pplications 3Ganditsbena of efits. Availability. Thenecessary equipmentmaynot beeasilyavailable. Accessibility. the time of the initiationof the study,onlyBSNUMTNL At had thelicence provide to 3Gservices ndtheirnewnetworks eingdeployed a b were available onlyuptodistrictowns. t The MART Approach MART followed three-step a approach overcome to thesechallenges nd a achieve thebusinessbjectives: o Th 1. Research. studied profile PCO It the of users andanalysed theirtelecom usage ehaviour. b 2. Strategy. designed pilotfor testing It a andassessing video telephony for thelow-income masses. 3. PilotImplementation.demonstrated relevancendutilityof video It the a telephony meetheemotional to t needs masses nd,intheprocess, of a generate newbusinesspportunity a o forPCO owners. Th sue 1. 2. 3. The Business Model There definite isa need fora visual ommunication c channel intheBoP market. The whichheralded PCO thetelecom revolution India30 years in agois now Th asunset industry. Thisis dueto the highpenetration mobile of communica- die tion, which isslowly wiping outPCOs. MostPCOs ave h started diversifying into tob
- 4. hotocopying, mobile sales and/or epair, r saleof rechargeoupons, c etc.tosurive. tisonlythelow-income I group thatstilluses pcastomake calls. hebusiT essisnotbooming, butisstillrelevant. owners erewilling pca w toexperiment lithnewtechnology, hoping newopportunity drawbackcustomers. fora to IART's research reinforced twoinsights-theneed forvisual ommunications c in IeBoP segment andtheadoptability thepca booth platform of asa forshared sage. ricsson E IndiaPvt.Ltd.gavethe go ahead project amne to A Saamne. igure showshesteps 1 t MART to convert shops Aamne used pca into Saamne deobooths. I Fig.1 I Converting pcastoAamne Saamne ideo V Booths Handset selection ---v-- [ he Communication Collaterals (Creatives) ~ Campaign Iemarketingommunication c campaign ascrucialn making w i thisconcept a Iccess. MART athree-pronged used strategyorthiscommunication: f n Create anemotional connect forthemigrant Category eedawareness. menwhooftenmisstheirfamilies andloved ones Giving video telephonyas oneof thesolution forthatneed. emonD strate thetechnology means asa tofill uptheiremotional vacuum BrandIntroduction. Visual ndreminder edium induce a m to migrants to trythetechnology Ieaccompanying shows video howMART itslearning used fromthetarget ua mceto develop thecommunication strategy ndimplement a thispilotproject bringthedesired behaviour change.
- 5. . Launching forVideo thePCO Telephony . - Merchandising PCOto raiseexistingcustomer's the inquisitiveness. Create 'talkoftown'among thetarget udience a - For communication atthePCO (pCO backdrops, danglers, standees, posters) Educating thePCO customers andtarget opulation p - Posters ithdifferenthemes w t (twotypesoneshowing wifefromvillage talking hishusband metroandotherparentsromvillage sonin to in f to metroandthirdposterhaving addresses videobooths all of I.e.callof action make to call) - Leaflets withaddresses ofbooths benefits fvideo & o telephone application astakeaways which people cankeep intheirshirt'spocket MART developed fivetypesof collaterals: leaflets, osters, p standees, banners anddanglers. Themessage/punch weredeveloped lines to:
- 6. I Fig.2 I Reaching outtotheTarget Audience 0 Target udience a 0 Consumer activation Community contact programme programme Van mass wareness a > Tonarrow down to programme thefinalusers f o 0 > Toreach allthose video telephony PCDs whose relatives areinDelhi > Tocreatea buzz > Toinduce actionaboutinthe > Toreinforce the makingideo v calls villages through communication through ousehold h vanpromotions visits message through community > Targeted all at > Targeted atend meetings villagers users > Targeted atthose families hose w relatives have migrated toDelhi
- 7. Scale and Result Thetotalduration pilotimplementation of wasfour months,rom research f to pilotimplementation. Thescaleof the pilotwaseightPCDs-fourin Delhi (clusters heremostof the migrantsromBegusarai, w f Biharlive),andfourin Begusarai, Thefollowingesults Bihar. r wereachieved through thisproject: . . . Understanding theusage andattitude ofpeople towards ommunication c Understanding needfor social ommunicationsthe baseof pyramid the c at anditspotential market Demonstrating theuseofvideo telephony booths asviable business odel m Table 1captures therelevant statisticsegarding r theoutcomes oftheproject. Above allelse, iththehelpof 3Gtechnology, w thispilotbrought about change a inthebehaviour migrants of fromBiharnterms i ofcommunication modes. This project onthe national w ruralmarketingwardin 2010 fromRural arketing a M Association ofIndia intheICT category. Inconclusion, telephony thelowest anging pportunity 3Gservice video is h o for providers across theglobe improve to thepenetration technology theBoP of in segment, thus,rendering a potential it service adoptionythemasses. for b The business model willcontinue torevolveroundhared sage. pilotshowcases a s u This aproof ointorallstakeholders p f involved-policy akers, m service roviders, p rural entrepreneurs, andtheecosystem atlarge.
- 8. . introducea solutionto the need,Le.,to be ableto seethepersonhey t are talkingon phone---Pehle Baal,Ab PhoneParHiMulaqaat, Sirf . detailthe benefitsof the applicationn a simpleandeasy-to-understand i manner-BaalKame KiKhushi Dikhayi DeAbPhone ar, nd P a . avoidpeoplemisunderstandinghis servicefrommobileinstead ffrompca t o boothsandcountervillagers'perceptions aboutnewtechnology cos~y being and unaffordable---PCO KijiyeapnonSe Mulaqaal SNUMTNL Se B Kecall DaronPar. MART usedothercommunication rogrammes swell(see 2). hese p a Fig. T included: . Promotion a mobilepublicaddressystem using s . Cycle-rickshaw promotion . Community meetings . One-to-one household meetings
- 9. I Table I 1 TheReach oftheAamne Saamne ilot P Reach Number 2,355 People contacted through thepromotional campaign Total emo d callsmade 392 Callsmade(Behaviour hange) c 127 Totalcalls made 519 Discussion Questions 1. Whatwerethe keybarriers the adoptionf 3Gservices? did to o How this project chieve a theacceptance ofanewconcept? 2. Why werePCDsargeted t inthismodel asthedelivery channel? rollout "The of3Gservicesanrevive c thePCD business inrural ndia.Giverguments I a in favour f andagainst o thisstatement. 3. Whattriggered actualbehaviour the change? hich W communication approaches ereeffective bringing bouthischange? w in a t Whf? 4. What ouldbetheotherpossibleuraldeliveryhannels c r c thatcould e b used fordeliveringideo v telephony services? .