Value Added Services in Rural India - Mobile VAS Asia 2009

Untapped opportunities – Rural mobile VAS
India Insights
Rajamanohar, Chief strategist, Hexolabs at Mobile VAS Asia 2009, Singapore

Astrology
Astro SMS services
Live services
WAP portals
Voice portals
A
Prevailing trends
Image credit– Shunya.net

Bollywood
Music download
Ringtones
Ringback tones (RBT)
Star’s voice portal
Images download
SMS competitions
B
Prevailing trends

Cricket
SMS updates
Live commentary
SMS competitions
WAP sites
C
Prevailing trends

Beyond A B C
R

Understanding India – Key statistics
By 2012, 60 per cent or close to 400 million of India’s projected 650
million total mobile subscriber base, will be rural subscribers. (MVAS projected
to contribute 12% operators revenue in 2010)
Multilingual , multi cultural
28 states
22 official languages
One of the lowest Prepaid ARPU in the world(low
disposable income )
Adult literacy rate 66%
Image credit– yahoo

The most popular Value added service
Morse code!
“missed call” is the most common use of mobiles by Indian BOP mobile owners.
I’m thinking of you - missed call <gap> missed call long
Call me back – short missed call
I’m listening to your tone, don’t pick up – missed call <long gap> missed call
Such “codes” are defined and understood by both parties.

Challenges
Indian BOP is still in the mobile 1.0 mode using mainly voice and missed calls functionality.
Messaging is being used by 1/3rd of the BOP population.
Mobile payment and government services use is almost non-existent.
Apart from voice, most use their mobiles for missed calls, while some use it for messaging and checking balances.
Hardly any research by Operators on what do people want. Contextual innovation is the Key. Are the bosses listening ?
Abysmal awareness levels about VAS services , 10% Indians know when their counter parts in SL/ Philippines have higher awareness level 50-60%

What do they do with their mobile?
Most Indian prepaid top-up for Rs.50 n below
Source: http://lirneasia.net/ 2009

What do they do with their mobile?
These rural areas, referred to as bottom of the pyramid (BOP), have a mere 10% awareness of the mobile voting applications (competitions, real time polling, live participation in TV/radio programmes, etc).

Thoughts …
Available services (WAP/ SMS/ IVR)
Right prices/ Weather info is always available with the farmers and making market price information available on mobile is little if not of no value addition to the farmer.
Calling a personal contact at Mandi works cheaper than the
Subscription(interactive too) .
Info from Newspapers and Radio/TV also helps.
Literacy issues
There is a need to explore more about such customer needs
Some of the major VAS products already in
the rural market are:
• Reuters Market Light (RML) - Reuters has
dispensed comprehensive agriculture-related
information on a pilot basis in Maharashtra
since April 2007;
• Mandi on Mobile service - by the staterun
BSNL in Uttar Pradesh;
• LifeTools - by Nokia, a package providing
agricultural information and educational
services, slated to be commercially launched
in 2009
• Fisher Friend project - a pilot project
launched in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry
aimed at the fishing community

Available Rural services from Handset manufacturer
NOKIA Life tools - The service provides timely and relevant includes Agriculture, Education and Entertainment information customized to the user’s location and personal preferences directly on their mobile phones in semi urban and Rural areas.
The compatible phones are Nokia 2330 classic and the Nokia 2323 classic!!

Understanding Users
Literacy (Can he read a SMS?)
customized local language service (Can he read a SMS in Hindi?)
VOICE ACTIVATED services
(IVR /Speech technologies/
Rural call centers )

Moving forward
- Voice activated services that is simple to use. Right content /right price
Localized service, collaborate with people
Bring down the entry barriers. Invite local innovators ,
Don’t be a copy cat! Reward innovators, fuel growth of the eco system.

The Future
“The Cure to Poverty Is Connectivity and Individual Empowerment”
IqbalQuadir of GrameenPhone, Bangladesh
Rural VAS to empower the bottom of the pyramid, making mobile phone more of an investment for them than an expenditure.

About Hexolabs
Hexolabs is a mobile value added services (mVAS) solution provider. The company was founded in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India;
+ India specific mVAS product innovation and consultancy+ Value Added Services and Content using Voice, SMS, MMS, WAP & USSD delivery platforms+ Mobile games development and distribution
Device
based
Apps
Voice
Data based
Apps

Mobile Antakshari
Call 55455 , 55855 on IDEA Cellular, India
Since ages ‘Antakshari’ has remained the most popular past-time in India. We played this traditional game all through our lives. In college festivals…while traveling in trains…during wedding functions…and in TV reality shows. Hexolabs now presents the nation’s favorite game…right on your mobile.
Versatile
Contextual
Popular
Replay value

References
http://www.newtechnology.co.in/nokia-life-tools-launched-in-india/
http://lirneasia.net/2009/08/india-reliance-promotes-rural-mobile-services/
http://www.watblog.com/2009/07/15/over-100-million-rural-mobile-subscribers-in-india-opportunity-for-mvas/
http://lirneasia.net/projects/2008-2010/bop-teleuse-3/
http://www.slideshare.net/ashishsinha/vas-ppt-presentation
Mail me at mano@hexolabs.com
I am social at
Twitter - @rajamanohar
Linkedin - rajamanohar
www.hexolabs.com

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Value Added Services in Rural India - Mobile VAS Asia 2009

by Raja Manohar on Oct 22, 2009

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Value Added Services in Rural India - Mobile VAS Asia 2009 — Presentation Transcript