Archive for March, 2011
3G Services – Rollout Costs Economics – Phone Vs Laptop & PC Users
The Indian Telecom industry currently in the state of deep mess for 2G Spectrum Scam is quietly rolling out 3G services in lucrative areas. Today we will evaluate the roll-out Costs & Economics for 3G Services in India. For the purpose of our Research, we have classified Operators in 3 different categories – Small, Mid-Size and Large.
Rollout Cost / Cell Site including Spectrum Charges
Small Operator – Upto 20,000 Towers – $35,000 / Tower + Cost of Spectrum depending on the Circle
Mid-Size Operator – Upto 50,000 Towers – $28,000 / Tower + Cost of Spectrum
Large Operator – > 60,000 Towers – $25,000 / Tower + Cost of Spectrum
Users / Cell Site / TowerCurrently the most efficient operator in India, Airtel has ~1,350 2G users per cell site. Assume a third of 3G users / Cell site ~ 400-450. 3G data bandwidth for users sharing the same cell site is a shared resource. Hence, higher the number of users per cell site, lower the available bandwidth per user. 3G cell sites can be configured for a capacity ranging from 3.6 mbps to 21 mbps by way of network upgrades from Read the rest of this entry »
TRAI’s Views on Spectrum License + Allocation Auction etc
The key regulator of the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world, TRAI shared its views on the various issues plaguing the Indian Telecom Sector. Excerpts from the discussion areas follows,
- Spectrum Pricing – TRAI expects directives on spectrum pricing – one-time charges and future spectrum costs on license renewals – to be issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) within the next month. Most of it will be covered in the New Telecom Policy of 2011.
- Release of Spectrum – TRAI expects 10-15MHz of spectrum (2G/3G) to be released within the next one year, primarily by the defence forces. However, this is subject to the completion of an alternate optic fibre Read the rest of this entry »
Airtel ready to takeover Qualcomm’s BWA / LTE Spectrum
Bharti Airtel is all set to buy Qualcomm’s India broadband wireless licenses for US$ 1.2 bn. Qualcomm has licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana and paid US$ 1.1 bn in Jun 2010 during BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) spectrum auctions.
So what does this mean for Bharti Airtel’s Broadband / Wireless Data Strategy ?
Bharti would gain access to the lucrative high ARPU Mumbai and Delhi circles complementing its existing licenses in Maharashtra and Karnataka (RIL owned Infotel is the only LTE (Long Term Evolution) competitor in these circles). Bharti Airtel will have acquired the license almost at the same cost as Qualcomm acquired it for in Jun 10 but at a lower risk as now Read the rest of this entry »
m-cash / payment – Game Changer at Lowest Level
As the Telecom Operators established Mobile Phone as the most widely used e-platform in India, the RBI realized it soon that it can be used for daily banking transaction anywhere within India. Over the past 24 months, RBI, Banks and Telecom Companies have met to form the rules of this Game and the roll out has began paving way for Mobile Payments across anywhere in India.
Today we’ll look into the business model of Mobile Payment Systems of Eko Business / Banking Correspondent. Eko operates via super-Customer Service Points (SCSPs) and Customer Service Points (CSPs) which are akin to wholesalers and retailers in the traditional FMCG distribution set-up. Around 100 CSPs report to one SCSP. When SCSP receives Cash, he transfers money to the CSP which in turn will use this money to transact with the end user / consumer.
Eko as a correspondent keeps track of all the CSPs, SCSPs and the end consumers. The end consumer with limited KYC Read the rest of this entry »
Videocon’s Talk at Zero Paise / Sec
Videocon Mobile launched advertising campaign promoting its zero paisa/sec scheme. Though Talk@Zero p/sec is a great tagline, it is just another scheme that bundles free call minutes with mobile handsets.
Details of Talk@Zero p/sec Offer:
Customer gets Videocon prepaid SIM at no charge on purchase of Videocon handset. Depending on the model of the handset, customer gets 10-30 minutes free local outgoing to any network for 6-12 months; unutilised minutes will be forfeited daily. Free talk time attached to SIM card bundled with a specific handset will work only in that handset.
Videocon Mobile’s scheme is aggressive compared to other schemes available in the market, but we believe zero paisa/sec scheme will not become industry standard (while 1paisa/sec gained immediate popularity) since – Videocon mobile business (both service and handset) are in start-up phase and leveraging value-chain benefit to gain market share, Read the rest of this entry »
Aadhaar – UIDAI – Next Generation of BioMetric Real Time Commerce – Banking
Nandan Nilekani, the Chariman and Visionary of the Unique ID project in India believes that Indians will now demand M,B,A – Mobile, Bank account and Aadhar. Since its launch in August, Aadhaar has enrolled (collected data) 2.5-3.0mn people and issued numbers to 1.5mn people. The enrolments are currently at a run rate of 100,000/day. By 4Q2011, UIDAI expects to start enrolling 1mn people per day.
Aadhaar, one of its most ambitious pilot projects involving Aadhaar enabled bank accounts, UIDAI in Jharkhand has opened over 50,000 bank accounts with 40-50 online banking transactions taking place daily with online authentication as part of the proof of concept , testimony of Aadhaar’s potential Read the rest of this entry »
