Satya Kalyan Yerramsetti, CEO & Founder, SMSCountry says that vernacular SMS and money transfer-related value added services will emerge as important trends in the next two or three years. Excerpts?
What is the biggest challenge facing the company today in the Indian market?
The biggest challenge in the Indian market is that it does not have flexibility in language. We want to expand into rural areas where regular SMSs will not do, vernacular SMSs are required. Because of the diverse nature of the country, there are several languages and catering to this remains a challenge. The second challenge is a lot of people do not use texting. So the challenge is to convert text SMS to voice SMS. Clearly, for scaling the business and extending the business model, these challenges need to be addressed.
What kind of VAS services will emerge as vital over the next three years?
I think money transfer-related value added services will be important. The West already have advanced models where you can recharge your phone and if you want more credit on your phone, you can get it, etc. This will prove to be important in India in the near future as well.
What are the company’s plans in the Indian market?
The company plans to surmount the challenges before it, in order to reach out to a larger audience. Moreover, mobile advertising and SMS advertising today is more or less spam advertising. A lot of people send promotional messages which the consumer do not want to receive. The consumer today receives 10-12 unwanted promotional messages on a daily basis. A lot of consumers are complaining and they want these messages to be stopped. So, for us, the important thing is to convert all spam messages into in-message advertising. The advertisements are tagged within the messages. The plan is to educate the whole country or the advertising industry to adopt such new age practices where such messages are not spam.
How does India differ vis a vis other markets in this respect?
The difference is that internet penetration is low in India, as compared to other countries, such as China. Mobile also, 3G has not come into play. I think in terms of entertainment, the way it comes in on the mobile and with 3G applications coming and consumers opting for smart phones where applications can be loaded will be the differentiating factor. With price of handsets coming down and high quality handsets being available at a lower price, what will drive the VAS market. VAS will move to high quality downloads, such as mobile TV, etc. VAS industry is bound to grow and take a larger chunk of the operator?s revenues
