Comments on: Per Second Billing and how it is haunting the Indian telecom sector

By: Ankit

Ankit — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:56:53 +0000

@aman
thanks a lot for sharing the data!! i guess i need to develop the habit of drilling the stats

By: Aman

Aman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:03:47 +0000

@ankit : that’s an insightful article.enjoyed reading it.

for the industry stats, take a look at this piece: http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_pre-paid-users-behind-bharti-price-move_1305948

By: Ankit

Ankit — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:25:08 +0000

@Amit

To clarify, i have no grasp on telecom sector, for that matter any sector:) Just a normal guy who reads a lot and offers his 2 cents!!

Infact, since u mentioned i think the apps/third party service providers have a lot to benefit. From what i understand, if you r into providing customer oriented services, this is am amazing oppurtunity.

Cheaper calls – l mean more penetration and more usaeg. All the more reasons for reaching the masses.
As from the telecom company providers perspective, with profit margins shrinking, i think VAS will be something that companies would be betting for.

Pardon me but i dont see much on ur website to get a notion of what exactly you guys do!!

Best of luck with the funding though…

By: amit dhingra

amit dhingra — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:32:46 +0000

Dear Ankit
You seem to have a good grasp on the knowledge in Telecom. Tell me what impact it will have on service providers like us. With so many new players joining in, will it be good or bad for them.

I am looking for 2 MN USD funding for one of my companies. how this scenario will impact that.
Thanks
Amit Dhingra
amit.dhingra@akdcompanies.com

By: Sumedh

Sumedh — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:42:19 +0000

How about a plan where each successive minute costs less and less…first 5 mins will cost 1 Re…next 10 will be 50 paise and so on…that’ll encourage people to continue talking! ;)

By: Dhananjay Nene

Dhananjay Nene — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:58:54 +0000

@ankit

Tata DOCOMO has opened a Pandora’s Box

Why pandora’s box ? What are the troubles ? Note the troubles should be expressed in some meaningful specific terms.

It is estimated that the telecom industry can lose billions in revenue.

Source, computations, logic etc. etc.

Even with a little exaggeration, per second billing to me is as revolutionary as the invention of the telephone itself.

Is it ? Why ? What is the variance between an ARPU or average revenue per call given per second billing vs pulse rate based billing.

On Friday, Bharti Airtel gave a downbeat outlook due to a price war after posting its slowest pace of profit growth in at least six years, sending its shares down nearly 7 percent.
With per second billing slated to decrease the operating margins, the profits are surely going to be hit, lest the ARPU’s see a dramatic increase.

Speculative ? Is it not possible that ARPU can increase leading to increased net margin per user even if it leads to reduced margin per call ? The reader has no information to make an assessment even as the post doesn’t provide any.

By: Ankit

Ankit — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:49:29 +0000

@dhananjay This is by far the best feedback i have received for my writing :) Moreover, it is a weakness that i am vaguely aware of.Number crunching is something that i need to learn.Also, i tend to overwrite and hence there aint much space left for putting the data results.

However, I would love to improve.Would be great to know if you could suggest what kind of data would have made it more meaningful. Eg: How much is the industry supposed to lose or something more than data.
Eagerly await your feedback

By: Dhananjay Nene

Dhananjay Nene — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:26:11 +0000

I think is an article with a great potential, let down by the lack of any substantial data to back up the assertions.