Bangalore based mobile payment company, mChek has launched a mobile bill payment service for Airtel postpaid users.
Airtel postpaid users across the country can pay their bills via SMS using any valid Visa credit card. mChek plans to add support for Mastercard credit cards shortly. The service is entirely free to the user.
How it works:
Airtel users need to sign-up for this service by sending sms MCHEK to 121 or by going to www.mchek.com. Signing-up involves registering the credit card and creating a 4-digit mChekPIN.
Paying your current bill is simple, sms MPAY to 121.
One can specify the payment amount by smsing MPAY 199 to 121.
Paying on other’s behalf is also possible. E.g. To pay Rupees 325 on behalf of 9810098100, sms MPAY 325 9810098100 to 121.
After sending the MPAY sms, user is asked to enter his mChekPIN (over a USSD call). On successful entry of mChekPIN, the transaction is completed and he receives an instant receipt.
IVRS-based mobile bill payment services have been around for some time now. But as far as I know, this is the first service of its kind.
- It has support across all circles of the operator - Airtel
- It is integrated into the main 121 system of Airtel
- The transaction is posted into the Airtel billing system instantly
- The entire process - registration and payment - is through mainstream access channels like SMS & USSD
mChek can become a mpayment aggregator and increase its usefulness by enrolling utility and e-ticketing companies. Online utility bill payments through credit cards is fast gaining adoption. The reason is simple - paying bills online saves you the hassles of queues and cheques. It also earns you some credit card points. If the same facility, simplicity, security and convenience is extended to a larger population by way of mobiles - it can be a hit.
Former MD of Walt Disney India, Rajat Jain has joined Mobile2win as managing director and CEO.
Prior to Disney, Rajat was with Sony Entertainment as EVP and Business Head, SET MAX, their movies and cricket TV channel. He has also held senior management positions with the Essel Group, Telstra International, Benckiser India and Hindustan Lever.
GK, a co-founder of the company along with Rajiv Hiranandani, will now focus primarily on Strategy and operations.
Mobile2win is a mobile VAS enabler having a strong presence in the media and entertainment segments. Investors in Mobile2win include Nexus India Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Softbank China.
Wow!
India added a total of 73 lakh (7.3 million) mobile users in June this year, the largest subscriber addition by telecom sector so far.
CDMA players added 21 lakh (2.1 million) users and GSM operators added 52 lakh (5.2 million) new users in June, says this Business Standard article.
But according to COAI, GSM operators added 54 lakh new users in the month of June. So is the total number of new users 75 lakh then? For detailed GSM additions in the month of June, refer to this post.
According to data released by AUSPI, Reliance Communications added 11.91 lakh new users taking its total base to 2.8 crore and Tata Teleservices added 7.7 lakh new users taking its total base to nearly 1.8 crore.
The launch of sub Rs 1000 ($25) handsets by Reliance and Tata might have boosted the growth in user additions. Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices had launched handsets priced at Rs 777 and Rs 770 respectively.
India’s mobile services revenue will grow to $25.6 billion by 2011 according to research firm Gartner.
Telecom revenues were around $8.95 billion in 2006, of which 9.6% were contributed by data services. Share of data revenues would rise to 22% of the total revenues by 2011. Gartner says entry of Vodafone will vitalise data services and the overall telecom market.
- Mobile market penetration is projected to increase from 12.7% in 2006 to 38.6% in 2011.
- By 2011, around 58% of the rural population and 95% of the urban population would be mobile.
- Pre-paid connections, which accounted for over 84% in 2006, are expected to grow to around 93% of the total connection base by 2011.
- Mobile subscribers would grow at a compounded annual rate of 23%, taking total connections to more than 462 million in 2011.
Source: Business Standard
Airtel has launched a voice portal for content downloads with a regional language interface in Kannada.
The VAS portal, launched in Karnataka, enables customers to download ring tones, devotional songs, and listen to content. There are plans to make available Astrology, news and other services on the portal.
An Airtel customer needs to call 51111 at Re. 1 a minute with a monthly rental of Rs 15 for the portal services. Without paying rental, he can access the service at Rs 2 per minute.
It would be interesting to know about the uptake of the service and its usage. I think the portal is intended for the Kannada speaking rural masses, who are more comfortable accessing services in their mother tongue. Although there is a charge to access the portal for content discovery and browsing, there is a good chance that the service might succeed. Initially rural users might try it for the novelty value, but they might keep using it because its the simplest way for them to access the downloads compared with the wap and sms portals.
As per the Business Standard article, Airtel’s share of new subscriber additions is almost 50% in Karnataka. Airtel’s is the leading operator with a market share in the state is 39% and a customer base of 5 million.
India’s second largest mobile operator Reliance Communications has acquired US-based Yipes Holdings, in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 1,200 crore ($300 million).
Yipes provides managed ethernet and application delivery services for enterprises and has nearly 1,000 customers. Yipes will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flag Telecom, the undersea cable arm of Reliance Comm.
Founded in 1999 by a group of investors, including Norwest Venture Partners managing partner Promod Haque, Yipes has annual revenues of $100 million and has network presence in the top 14 US metros, which account for 40% of the total US data communications market.
The acquisition of Yipes will help RCOM overlay latest technology over Flag network. RCOM will expand Yipes coverage within the US and take Yipes to nearly 40 new markets globally, including Middle East, Asia and India, by connecting it to Flag and RCOM network, said Mr Garg.
Mr Garg said corporate clients, MNCs and small and medium enterprises presented good business opportunities for Yipes in India. “BPOs and ITeS companies will benefit and we hope to take a significant market share,” he added.
The global ethernet market is valued at $10 billion and it is forecast to grow at a compounded annual rate of 30% to $25 billion by 2010.
Source: Forbes and ET
With additions of 5.4 million (54 lakh) new users in June, GSM subscriber base has touched 136 million.
Bharti Airtel = 1.96 million new, 42.7 million total
Vodafone Essar = 1.54 million new, 30.75 million total
BSNL = 0.43 million new, 28 million total
Idea = 0.90 million new, 16 million total
Spice = 0.16 million new, 3.1 million total
The delay in capacity addition is taking a toll on BSNL’s subscriber addition rate. In terms of subscriber numbers, BSNL was the No. 2 GSM operator in India till two months ago.
Lalu ke peeche kutte ka baccha pad gaya.
Lalu bola: “Hum toh Airtel ka card dalwaya hoon, phir sasura ye Hutch ka network kaise pakad raha hai!!”
***
Life before marriage is AIRTEL: “You can express yourself ”
After honeymoon is HUTCH: “Wherever you go, your wife network follows”
After 1 year life is IDEA: “A wife can change your life”
After 10 years life is BSNL: “Subscriber is not reachable”
The July event of Mobile Monday Mumbai is on the topic “Mobile Advertising” and will be held on July 16th.
Thanks to GroupM for sponsoring the event and supporting the community.
Topic:
Mobile Advertising
- Is mobile advertising required by brands and how can it be taken to the next level.
- What do the brands expect this medium to deliver & would they invest if they can target the right customer.
- What are the factors influencing / hindering mobile advertising.
- Do we have the right infrastructure & ecosystem for mobile advertising to flourish?
- Operator’s perspective on new technologies / infrastructure which would be beneficial for mobile advertising.
Agenda:
- Panel Discussion
- Rajesh Jain, MD, Netcore Solutions (Moderator)
- Vikram Sakhuja, COO, Groupm
- Harit Nagpal, Marketing Director, Hutch
- Pankaj Sethi, VP - VAS, Tata Tele
- Arvind Rao, CEO, On Mobile
- Rahul Welde, GM Media, Hindustan Unilever
- Group Discussion
- Dinner
When:
Monday, 16th July
7.00pm - 9.30pm
Where:
Grapeviine
Peninsula Corporate Park,
Club Peninsula,
Ganpat Rao Kadam Marg,
Lower Parel,
Mumbai - 400 013.
Sponsors:
Click here to register.
Speaking to IIT alumni in Silicon Valley, Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said his hopes that India’s regulatory bureaucracy had modernised were shaken by last-minute moves to derail his company’s $11-billion takeover of Hutchison Essar.
“I really did not expect people—the ‘good and great’ of India—to be calling cabinet secretaries and ministers to say ‘You have to unwind this deal because we want a piece of it’,”
“The billionaire losers’ club was trying to unwind the deal,” Mr Sarin said. “What was fascinating was that there was absolutely no transparency in the process.”
I think these are audacious statements by Mr Sarin, considering that Vodafone Essar has to operate in the same environment that he is commenting on. Not surprisingly, a media note clarifying the remarks is released soon after.
“As I have stated in public on a number of occasions, we have great respect for the role of the Indian authorities in scrutinising transactions such as ours, in accordance with Indian law. We have also publicly expressed our appreciation for the speed and thoroughness with which scrutiny of the transaction took place by various authorities in India.”
Industry body Assocham estimates that mobile value added services are poised to grow by over 65 per cent to touch Rs 8,200 crore ($2 billion) by the end of this fiscal from Rs 4,950 crore in the last fiscal.
- Indian music industry earned more than 35 million dollar from such services which is equivalent to 20 per cent of its total revenue.
- The total mobile music downloads in Indian markets are valued at 75 million dollars and is expected to grow by 25 per cent in the next year, the chamber said.
- TV show Indian Idol on Sony got more than 55 million votes via SMS — at a rate of Rs 3 per SMS, that is Rs 16.5 crore. The telecom companies earned Rs 11.5 crore and Sony made Rs 5 crore, it added.
Source: ET
