By 2012, rural India will account for over 60 per cent of the country’s telecom subscriber base. Value-added services (VAS) are expected to contribute significantly to this. However, there is a long way to go before the full potential can be unlocked.
Creating Value – Need for customised VAS solutions for rural India
In order to effectively tap the rural market, operators need to know that rural India requires a different awareness mechanism and services in vernacular languages to suit local needs. The rural consumer’s profile is characterised by low education levels, a combination of curiosity and technology wariness and cost sensitivity.
Rural segments have two types of needs: those similar to the urban market, including infotainment content and updates on various utilities; and those unique to rural areas, such as ruralfocused content, commerce transactions, updates on local activities, etc. In order to expand successfully in rural India, VAS players should develop applications addressing both these needs.
For such a market, the focus has to be on services that enable the rural population to have access to infotainment content and updates on local utilities in local languages. The content has to be delivered through a medium that is easily reachable and usable. For now, the primary focus of rural VAS is on voice applications.
Success in the rural market depends on the interplay of a host of complex factors.Government policies will play a critical role in the growth of VAS in rural India. This will affect penetration drivers such as the level of competition in the sector, tariff and non-tariff barriers for ICT products, and support from the Universal Service Obligation Fund for the development of rural telephony.
Keeping this in mind, therefore, VAS offerings can be divided into four major categories: information based, entertainment related, commerce related, and communication based. A few examples include enquiries regarding various government schemes, weather information and taxes or bill payment (municipal services), school or college locator admission services, the Angrezi Seekho initiative, school helpline and m-payments (m-education solutions) and emergency numbers, medicine reminder, and pregnancy and childcare (M-health services).
The mobile handset has in fact become an invaluable asset in rural India. In the recent floods in Bihar, for example, it aided in the quick evacuation and rescue of marooned people and enabled health workers to provide instant medical services and contact doctors. Farmers can also remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pump sets in far-flung locations via their mobile handsets.
Features such as voice SMS are also catching on owing to the advantages they offer over SMS and data transmissions.For example, the Avaaj Otalo initiative, a voice-based community forum, offers farmers access to relevant and timely agricultural information over the phone.Farmers can record questions, review and respond to others, and access content published by agricultural experts and institutions. They can also access radio archives to listen to past episodes of popular weekly radio programmes.
Voice SMS-based subscription services can provide information regarding fertilisers and crops, weather, health care, commodity prices, emergencies, social reform messages and entertainment.
Similarly, mobile VAS has come to the fore on the global stage as a means to facilitating communication and providing access to relevant information. For example, Google SMS Search is widely utilised in Uganda. It covers features such as Farmer’s Friend, Clinic Finder, Google Trader, the CELAC (collecting and exchanging local agricultural content) project and an activism campaign against gender-based violence. In Vietnam, iNhaNong, a software product installed in mobile phones was introduced recently to facilitate the purchase of agricultural products by sending text messages.
On the voice front, countries such as the Philippines have made extensive use of voice SMS. Philippines-based Bayan Telecommunications offers subscribers the “Boto Mo I-Patrol Mo” voice application, which means “take care of your vote”.
Overall, user expectations in rural markets may be summarised in a few keywords: customised data, multiple local languages, and services at affordable price points.
The VAS operator must therefore focus on providing innovative products and services, localise value creation, enable access to relevant information, facilitate unconventional partnerships and collaborations, introduce ready-to-use devices and enable new business models. This is how the success of VAS ventures in rural India may be ensured.
Anju Makin, Director, Marketing, Kirusa;Vinish Kathuria, COO, Spice Digital; Jagdish Mitra, CEO, CanvasM Technologies; and Ashish Mishra, Senior Vice-President, Sales,APAC, IMI Mobile
