Over the past year, the Indian telecom sector witnessed several co-branding exercises. Faced with rapid customer churn, telecom operators tied up with over-the-top (OTT) players such as Nimbuzz, WhatsApp and Facebook; value-added service (VAS) companies; as well as financial institutions, such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, to enhance the user experience.
A recent instance of such a tie-up is Vodafone India?s partnership with ICICI Bank to launch the M-Pesa money transfer service in Mumbai, Bihar and Jharkhand, and Delhi and the National Capital Region. The service is aimed at extending banking services to areas where financial networks are inadequate. Using their M-Pesa account, customers can deposit and withdraw cash from designated outlets, transfer money to any mobile phone in the country, pay their utility bills, recharge their mobile phones and shop at select outlets.
Handset vendors, too, have jumped onto the bandwagon and have signed agreements with OTT players and telecom operators. For instance, during the launch of the Asha 501 device, Nokia generated customer interest by offering free access to Facebook on the device. For Nokia, once a market leader but now a struggling player, granting free access to Facebook was an effective way to market its Asha range of handsets, given the substantial user base the social networking site has in India. Hence, not only does the handset house smartphone-like features at an affordable price (Rs 5,199), it also comes bundled with a popular application free of charge. For Facebook, this partnership will help expand its user base rapidly, given that a significant number of price-conscious customers are migrating to smartphones.
An emerging trend witnessed in the industry over the past two years is that operators are keen on establishing partnerships with OTT players. This is owing to the growing popularity of networking platforms, which has adversely impacted their revenues from SMS-based services. As per research firm Ovum, by 2016, operators are likely to lose $54 billion in SMS revenues owing to the growing popularity of online messaging.
Nevertheless, such tie-ups seem to be paying off for operators. For instance, when Aircel launched a campaign to promote its partnership with Nimbuzz in Jammu & Kashmir, it received an overwhelming response with over 6,000 subscribers downloading the application in about 20 days.
tele.net takes a look at recent partnerships signed by telecom operators…
Bharti Airtel
Most of the company?s recent collaborations have aimed at giving a boost to the fledgling mobile commerce space in the country, while promoting its own services and extending VAS offerings to customers in semi-urban and rural areas.
For instance, Airtel M Commerce Services Limited has collaborated with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank to offer the airtel Money facility in the state. The service will be provided via the bank?s 800 ?khidmat? centres. The airtel Money facility permits customers to use their mobile devices to pay utility bills, recharge mobile phones and conduct online transactions. The operator has also tied up with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation to launch a ticket booking facility. The service utilises the airtel Money platform and is available to customers in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. The service allows users to book and cancel tickets, search for stations and trains, etc.
Vodafone India
The telecom major recently collaborated with Rockstand, an e-book and e-magazine application. With this, Vodafone India customers can purchase books and magazines for Rs 7 per day without having to use their credit cards. Customers will be charged for the service on their next post-paid bill or from the prepaid balance on their mobile handsets. This would provide the operator?s subscribers easy access to a range of reading material, while Rockstand would be able to enhance its subscriber base.
To promote its mobile data services, Vodafone India has tied up with Karbonn Mobiles. Existing data subscribers purchasing the Titanium S5 device can avail of 1 GB of free data usage on the operator?s 3G, 2G and EDGE networks for three months from the date of purchase, while new 3G customers purchasing the Karbonn A12 device can avail of 500 MB of free data usage on the operator?s 3G, 2G and EDGE networks for two months from the date of purchase. For home-grown handset vendor Karbonn Mobiles, this tie-up would significantly enhance its user base.
Reliance Communications
In a bid to improve network coverage for its 2G GSM services, the company recently announced a roaming agreement with Aircel, under which both the companies will use each other?s mobile towers.
Meanwhile, to boost its data services, the operator has tied up with Apple Inc. to bundle the iPhone handset with its service plans. As per the agreement, the company is offering 6 GB of free data for three months, at a monthly rental of Rs 804. Also on offer are premium numbers for new iPhone customers as well as free access to WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter for three months. This partnership is beneficial for Apple as well, in terms of consolidating its presence in India, which has so far been an uphill task for the handset vendor.
TATA DOCOMO
Keeping in mind that accessing social networking sites is one of the most popular mobile applications, TATA DOCOMO has partnered with U2opia Mobile to introduce the Facebook check-in service. The service allows users to stay connected to Facebook without using internet connectivity, global positioning system or mobile data services, through unstructured supplementary services data. The facility permits users to check into a location showing on their Facebook profile at a charge of Re 1 per check-in.
To boost its wireless broadband portfolio, the operator has partnered with GMR Airports to provide Wi-Fi services to passengers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3 in Delhi and the Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport, Hyderabad. The operator will offer free Wi-Fi access to travellers for 45 minutes. To use this service for a longer duration, users will have to pay a specified amount.
BSNL
To enhance product reach, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has collaborated with Champion Computers Limited (CCL) to launch a slew of BSNL co-branded products such as smartphones, tablets, PCs, data cards (dongles) and wireless networking products. BSNL will leverage its pan-Indian network to reach customers while CCL will focus on the technology and product manufacturing.
With the aim of tapping new revenue streams, BSNL has launched video calling services in the south and east zones, in partnership with ITI Limited and Click Telecom. The operator is already offering this facility in the north and west zones. Users availing of this service will be charged Rs 2.50 per minute. The operator is also offering users an unlimited calling facility for this service, which is valid for 30 days and is priced at Rs 2,200. The other two plans available are priced at Rs 750 and Rs 350, and offer subscribers free calls of 900 and 150 minutes respectively; thereafter, users will be charged Rs 2.50 per minute. Both the plans are valid for 30 days.
Meanwhile, the operator has collaborated with WishTel to expand its range of BSNL IRA ICON tablets. The new offering supports a Hindi operating system interface, which permits users to type, read and access all device functions and icons in Hindi. That apart, the device packs in a TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen, operates on the Android 4.0 platform and houses a 1.2 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. Other features include support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies, dual cameras (a 0.3 megapixel front web camera and a 2 megapixel rear camera) and 8 GB of internal storage. This device is aimed at encouraging tablet usage amongst semi-urban and rural customers as well as promoting content in regional languages.
Aircel
Focusing on long distance services, Aircel, in collaboration with Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications, has launched an international roaming service for its post-paid customers travelling to the country. Subscribers will be charged Rs 55 per minute for outgoing calls within Myanmar while outgoing calls to India and other countries are priced at Rs 80 per minute. Incoming calls are priced at Rs 60 per minute.
To boost its VAS portfolio, the company has collaborated with Techzone to launch the Video Store@ Re 1 mobile video download service for its customers. Through this facility, subscribers can access various videos on their mobile handsets via the WAP, GPRS, 2G and 3G platforms. Customers will be charged Re 1 per video download. To subscribe to this service, Aircel subscribers can either send VDO as an SMS to 56060 or dial 52010.
Overall, industry analysts expect the sector to continue to witness such tie-ups for some time. However, they believe that some issues and concerns could arise, in particular between OTT players and operators. While such partnerships would help operators promote their data plans, they would have to keep pace with the OTT companies, in terms of technological advancements and product development.
