Indian subscribers getting taste of Mobile Broadband

Lots of interesting developments are happening in India at the moment. The first and the most basic being MNP or Mobile Number Portability finally becoming a reality. For the first time users will be able to move operators and retain their number. This will change the way the users will use their phones. For example most users use their mobiles as secondary phones for making calls while they give their land line numbers to important people. The reason being they are not sure how long they will stick with the current operator. If they change the operator they will get a new number. I think that this will definitely change with MNP.

MNP is not the only thing. Many operators and equipment manufacturers are waiting for the 3G spectrum auction for some time now. The auction was recently postponed for variety of reasons. The auction will let the private operators to bid for the spectrum and they can decide if they want 3G or WiMAX or LTE. The state run MTNL and BSNL have already launched 3G and in Northern India but there have been not many takers yet. Maybe the people are but sceptical right now or maybe the lack of devices. The other thing is that people are maybe not sure if the technology they invest in will be around tomorrow or not.

MTNL is keen to experiment with WiMAX but it does not want to do it alone. There are many companies in India that have developed WiMAX protocol stacks so it may be a boost for these generally small and medium sized companies if WiMAX is deployed by MTNL. The only problem with WiMAX is that there are hardly big global names with any WiMAX devices/equipment. As a reult the prices could be higher and the consumers may have less choice. 3G and LTE will help in this scenario. Qualcomm for example is already looking forward to getting a big chunck of the Indian market.

India has a very big pool of keen technologists and they will whole heartidly embrace mobile broadband and the variety of apps/mobiles but only when they know that there will be stability and reliability. Once the ball starts rolling then the snowball will turn into an avalanche. The question is not if, but when. Source: BlogSpot.com

Blyk Ceases Ad-Funded Service, Wants To Do Mobile Apps

Blyk, the UK-based MVNO that operated under an ad-funded business model, is ceasing operation.  The company couldn’t last any longer providing free SMS and airtime in exchange for relevant advertising.  While the service as we know it is no more, the company will live on.

Completely changing its business model, Blyk will now focus its attention on providing mobile applications and consulting to other wireless carriers on how to provide ad-funded service to its customers.  In other words, instead of providing a completely ad-funded service based on pushing advertisements to its users, Blyk will create specialized apps that other carriers can utilize that will offer the idea as a separate option, in addition to normal cell service.

It’s an idea that Blyk should’ve utilized in the beginning.  By providing an option to users, it makes much more sense- the users can receive advertisements when they feel like it, in exchange for free SMS and airtime, instead of being forced to all the time.  It might just be a sustainable business model in the end- that is if the mobile carriers will start including the app.

With increased pressure from the likes of Google Voice and others that also offer free telephony service, Blyk just simply couldn’t compete.  Hopefully, the service will thrive as an app instead of a full-on service-provider, but only time will tell.  As you remember, we here at MMW liked the idea of Blyk in the beginning and thought it would make it, if done properly.  We’ll definitely keep this on our radar. Source: www.marketingwatch.com

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