A paradigm shift in Indian telecom sector is on the verge but fortunately or unfortunately it has started to become another tariff war among Service providers to grab a piece of pie from each other's subscriber base. There are certain points of consideration that I want to raise via this medium.
1. No doubt!! At first look it is very customer friendly scheme, espl. for high volume short duration callers but not so much for low volume long duration callers. Still now at least for once voice will feel better option for text (to frugal's like me), though I am sure SMS has a wider audience because of its vast range of utility and a long list of festivals across calender. But like every war has its consequences, spare a thought for long standing operators? how will they face the hit on ever decreasing ARPU? Will they need to cut a hole in their pockets? or mobile phone makers will come out with another phenomena to counter the degrading network quality? or I may think, ultimately the end user will get used to it.
2. With teledensity touching only 33% in Jan'09, major portion of which comes from metro users who carries multiple connections. Still SPs are obsessed with offering cheaper than cheapest rates, we were already among the cheapest telecom markets in the world [not literally ;-)]. My question is, When will they innovate a plan to tap the rural India? Is it really not even worth a try?
3. Coming to implementation aspect of this easy sounding offer. It can be as easy or as complex depending upon how comprehensively SP wants to offer the benefits to the customer. As far as I know only layer which will require any change should be BSS layer. Surely, It can bring a overhauling change in the system if SP decides. Different BSS solutions will handle it differently, What I know is that its a matter of seconds when it comes to Kenan FX (a BSS product with an impressive client list of Airtel, Aircel, TATA and BSNL) but I will like to hear from others too.
4. While working on its solution (for Kenan FX platform), It stuck me like a lighting. Can this war lead to a price below 1 paisa per sec? It may give us the privilege to visit pre-independence times when 1 paisa was worth a many. How will this change, if happens, affect our perception of tariff rates? I hope before this, God bless the marketing people with panacea of this tariff war i.e. flat rental based charges.
5. Any other industry/sector where Pay per smallest unit scheme can be used in, like electricity, water etc.
Your thoughts are most welcome.
