Spice Popkorn

Spice Popkorn : Value for money projector phone!

The craze for projector phones is anything but over. If you are following world cup closely then you might have come across a strange yet good advertisement for a Spice phone. Called as Spice Popkorn, this phone provides a project option of which there are multiple use cases as shown in the advertisement. The least of it is project a flower on a girl. All the other use cases are bound to make your life a living hell. But there are some very good uses of the phone. Ad folks have to be creative to get paid. You just don’t have to be that creative.

Spice PopKorn TV Commercial

Spice M-9000 is a dual SIM phone with a in-built projector. It also comes with a analogous TV which will help you stream free-to-air channels, you know like the good old Doordarshan. There is a document viewer, in case you want to project a presentation on the side wall in the middle of a Christopher Nolan movie.

Spice M-9000 aka Popkorn, has a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM with recording, Bluetooth, video player and a 6 cm QVGA screen. All of this comes at a measly price of Rs. 6999.

There were two other projector phones launched. One by Intex and one by Techberry. Both the phones are priced in the 12K-16K range. At 7000 rupees,  Popkorn is the cheapest projector phone out there and looks like real value for money.

MTS 'a step ahead'

MTS: targeting the next generation consumers

                        

Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), which deals in telecommunication services under the brand name MTS, has unveiled a new identity designed to further establish the brand MTS, targetting the next generation consumers with the new tagline, 'A Step Ahead'.

The re-branding and repositioning comes on the eve of MTS crossing the 10-million subscriber mark in India since its Indian launch in March, 2009.

MTS has incorporated the new tagline, 'A Step Ahead,' in the same red box as its logo. The symbol of a white egg with the word MTS is still there. Earlier, it used to be two red boxes side-by-side, with a white egg symbol in one, and the word MTS in the next one. The white egg symbolises simplicity and genius. In a bid to fit the new tagline, the egg, and the MTS logo, the size of the red rectangle has been slightly stretched.

In 2006, MTS changed its logo as part of a re-branding campaign carried out by its parent company JSFC Sistema. In 2010, MTS announced the acquisition of Sistema Telecom, owners of the MTS egg logo, thus

MTS is to be more consumer-centric with the new positioning, with the aim to give satisfaction to its customers.

MTS will also have extensive communication-centric activities. They will be launching a new integrated and disruptive brand communication programme, including a new television commercial. Above-the-line (ATL) communication will also be backed by digital activities, and a range of on-ground initiatives across all key markets, especially across malls and colleges in the country.

For the record, MTS's creative duties are being handled by Rediffusion Y&R. Its media duties are handled by Media Planning Group (MPG) India, the media-buying arm of Havas Media.

Indian Telecom

India crosses 800 Million Telecom Subscribers –Adds 19m mobile users

The Indian Telecom subscriber count has reached 806.13 Million, thanks to unabated growth in mobile subscribers. India added 18.99 Million new Mobile subscribers in January to take the total mobile subscriber count to 771.18 Million.

According to the latest report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India has 538.38 million Urban Subscribers while 267.74 million Rural subscribers. The mobile growth in rural areas is higher at 3.07% as compared to urban which was about 2.06% in January. The share of Urban Subscriber has declined to 66.79% from 67% where as share of Rural Subscribers has increased from 33% to 33.21%. With this,  the overall Tele-density in India reaches 67.67 percent.

Telecom Subscription Data Highlights as on 31st Jan 2011

Interestingly, according to the new VLR data released by TRAI, out of total 771.18 Million mobile subscribers, 548.66 Million were active subscribers. So roughly about 71 percent of all the connections sold are being actively used. It is also interesting to note that Bharti Airtel has maximum active subscribers (92.63%) closely followed by Idea (90.34%). When it comes to region, Mumbai has lowest proportion of active subscribers (59.59%), while Jammu & Kashmir has the maximum (81.26%)!

also looking forward to see the churn in between telecom providers due to onset of Mobile Number Portability. It seems from the report that instead of actually being beneficial to smaller providers, it is exactly the opposite. They have lost more subscribers to their larger counter-parts than other way around. Infact, Videocon and HFCL are actually showing negative growth!

New Subscriber Additions in January 2011

Bharti maintained the lead adding 17.38 percent of all subscribers followed by Reliance (16.95) Vodafone (16.37) & Idea (13.22%). None of the newer Operators are able to make the mark with all of them put together adding less than 5% of all subscribers.

Telecom Operator Market Share

Bharti leads the pack with over one-fifth of Indian Telecom market under its fold, followed by closely placed Reliance (16.71%) and Vodafone (16.52%).

Broadband Subscriber growth in India

Broadband growth remains subdued – In the month of Jan total of 0.29 million broadband subscribers were added taking the total kitty to 11.21 million, thus showing a growth rate of 2.70%.

Telecom Consumer Complaints: Insight

Over-charging Mobile Operators–More common than you think!

If you are a mobile post-paid subscriber, I am sure you may have been surprised one time or the other, looking at your mobile bills. More often than not, they are more than you could have imagined. Most of the times you can’t figure out why the bill is so high, at other times you can spot discrepancies in your SMS charges or phone calls. Sometimes you are also charged for things like caller tunes without having even asked for them.

Yes, that’s the existing scenario and you are simply one of the thousands (or even millions) of victims being overcharged by mobile operators. Interestingly, some of us don’t even realize that we are being looted by the mobile companies.

So how does it work? Say you have asked for some schemes like free SMSs and cheaper call rates. You are really happy that you have made the best possible deals and talk to your girlfriend ( or boyfriend or wife or husband) day in and day out. Many mobile companies use this as the easiest way to fool you. They sometimes charge for SMSswhich have been paid for as FREE or charge a few paisa here and there for some calls which you can just call ‘BILLING MISTAKES’. But then what’s the big deal in a few paisa here and there, right? WRONG! With a few paisa here and there the mobile operators are making millions all the way to the bank. Just think, if each call is billed at just 1 second extra, with millions of calls daily, operators are making a killing!

But, the overcharging is not limited to just calls and SMSes -  Caller tunes and other value added services are also cash cows!

One could argue saying this is the way mobile operators encourage customers to use caller tunes. But isn’t charging them against ethics? Similarly, value added services are another big money spinner for mobile operators as they charge their customers even after the services have been cancelled. Every mobile operator asks you to deposit some money for the services they provide. All the while you are using the operator’s services, they are earning interest. Once you cancel and are late with your bill payment, you have to pay a fee. And only the money minus the interest is given back to you.

Although hundreds of thousands of users face this issue, only a few of them notice it and even less complain about it. Here are the number of complaints launched against Operators in last 2 years.

Consumer Complaints for overcharging

Operator	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11(Upto Dec’2010)
Airtel	773	1736	1062
Tata	232	678	329
Reliance	466	1000	685
Vodafone	477	881	538
Idea	129	425	371
Others	109	370	300
Total	2186	5090	3285

The biggest complaints of overcharging have been from Airtel and Reliance. The TRAI has notified the Telecom Consumer Grievances Regulations, 2007 regarding providing some protection to consumers from such errant operators. But no one has done anything and the consumer is left to fend for himself. From trying their best to reject the MNP because it makes it competitive for them to charging customers over the top, mobile operators have been ruling the roost.

How long can they really do this? Is there any way to stop consumers getting overcharged?

BSNL: franchise model

BSNL signs franchisees for BWA spectrum

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a telecommunications company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India has opted for a franchise model to monetise its Rs 8,313.80 crore investment on securing pan-India Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.

The company has opted for a franchise model on a revenue-sharing basis to use this spectrum. The company has short-listed three companies namely Teracom, Starnet and Take Solutions as its franchisees and will be responsible to distribute BWA spectrum in their respective territories. Teracom has been given Rajasthan, Karnataka and Bihar circles, Starnet has Chennai Telecom District and Himachal Pradesh and Take Solutions has won rights in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Orissa. As per the agreement, the franchisees have to deploy the WiMax network and BSNL would provide infrastructure like premises, towers and media connectivity.

‘Super Zoozoo'

Vodafone: After ‘Super Zoozoo' 

Vodafone has launched a campaign to promote 3G services with a series of television commercials during the ongoing cricket World Cup. The campaign marked the return of popular animated cartoon characters Zoozoos, with a ‘Super Zoozoo' performing heroics representing the superior quality of 3G services. A teaser campaign was launched at the start of the World Cup, and the ‘Super Zoozoo' was unveiled during the India-England match on Sunday, February 27

After the successful initial blast, the focus is on getting customers to experience the 3G services. The campaign with the Zoozoos was planned to leverage the World Cup, starting with the teasers. The India-England match was the best platform the company could have asked for to reveal 3G. There will be parallel communication targeting different segments going forward.

Marketing efforts

The company will focus its marketing efforts by segments, ranging from the early adopters of 3G to those unaware of possible services on the faster network.

The messaging will range from tariffs to product offerings on 3G.

The biggest challenge is to get customers to experience the 3G services. Customers can get a risk-free experience of the fast network and service offerings on 3G at Vodafone stores, with experience zones created for promoting 3G.

Noting that only 4 to 5 per cent of handsets in the market today are 3G enabled, A large part of 3G adoption is also hardware adoption. We will be communicating and helping increase the 3G enabled handset adoption. With 3G, it's not a question of competing with other service providers; it's about growing the pie.

Vodafone will also look to draw from its learnings around the world on 3G adoption and services.

Web access accounts for a large part of 3G usage globally. Having the largest 3G user base around the world, the Company understands consumer usage patterns and can bring some of those learnings to India. India could be a little different given peculiarity of the market, different segments, and the large prepaid base. There are likely to be two distinct streams of growth here — one from browsing and the other through localised utilities and services.

‘Unprecedented' hits

Vodafone is delighted that the ‘Super Zoozoo' campaign has received ‘unprecedented' hits on Facebook. The film was unveiled at 10 am on February 27 and attracted over 1,00,000 views in less than two days. Vodafone will continue to invest in marketing through digital media.

The brand must be hoping that the next time it unveils something as successful as the ‘Super Zoozoo', a large number of those viewing it on the web do so on 3G-enabled handsets.

SURVEY: Indian youth usage of mobile services

97% Indian youth use prepaid Mobile services

Mobile telephony has penetrated the developing nations across the world. From a bus driver to a high flying executive, everyone has one these days. Many carry more than one mobile or have multiple sim cards. Whatever be the situation, mobile handsets have become the most important component of our lives – so much so that all of us wonder how we managed to live before their advent. From texting to using phones for social networking, mobiles have become an inherent necessity.

In the light of this, Nielsen’s survey - Mobile Youth Around the World – of 1.2 lakh youth mobile phone users across Brazil, Russia, India, China, Vietnam, Germany, US, UK, Spain and Italy throws some interesting insights. The usage varies across cultures, demographics, preferences etc.

India has the lowest smartphone penetration at 10% compared to China’s 29% and the highest in Italy (47%). Though the number of male smartphone users in countries like India, Germany and Italy is very high at more than 65%, its almost equal in Russia, UK and US (where men own lesser smartphones than women).

Interestingly despite the proliferation of multiple SIM card phones, only about a maximum of 29% in Italy use such phones. In India and China the number is even lesser at around 15%.

Majority of the youth make their own decision while buying mobile handsets and only about 15% consult their parents before making the decision. Indian youth lead among those from other countries in that 40% of them hold price as the most important factor for buying a mobile device and more than 97% still use prepaid services. Prepaid services are still common across the developing world like China, Brazil etc. While it’s the exact opposite in UK, US, Germany where more people use postpaid services.

In terms of data usage like mobile Internet, apps etc. China leads the world with more than 84% using these services. On the other end of the spectrum are Indian youth, only 10% of whom use such data services. Voice and text based services still rule the roost in India.

Although, this survey does not show data usage highly amongst Indian youth, a year down the line, things might be quite different, especially due to launch of 3G services in India..

DTH providers sales pitch

DTH providers raise sales pitch

From providing advertisement-free coverage of cricket matches through high definition (HD) feed, lowering entry price to offering sports channels for free, DTH (direct-to-home) providers are showering offers. Introduced first during the FIFA World Cup last year, HD-enabled channels have become popular amongst subscribers for their better picture and sound clarity.

To attract more customers, Dish TV has increased the number of HD channels from four to 30. It has also lowered its entry price from Rs 2,990 to Rs 2,330 and clubbed the HD coverage of French Open tennis tournament to sweeten the offer.

DTH service providers such as Tata Sky Ltd, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV and Reliance Digital TV have acquired rights for HD coverage of matches. HD coverage is available at an extra cost of around Rs 150 over the package cost.

GROWING DEMAND:

Airtel DTH  expecting an increasing number of subscribers to opt for the HD format. The company is expecting a 15 per cent increase in subscriber base during this cricket season.

Reliance Digital TV also confirmed a rising sales graph. The company has sold more connections in the first two weeks of February than the combined sales of December and January. the company is expecting to end this month with 40 per cent growth in subscription over the combined sales of December and January.

Reliance has introduced round-the-clock customer support facilities to redress any transmission problems.

PRICE WAR:

Meanwhile, Sun Direct, which is providing standard definition feed, has unleashed a price war. The company is offering free sports channels for “long term” (6-12 months) subscribers. For other subscribers, sports channel prices have been pegged lower than competitors'.

Subscribers buy sports channels during events and not annually. Sun DTH expect the offer to go down well.