Vodafone Launches Kirusa’s Voice SMS; Some Thoughts On Voice SMS

Vodafone has announced the launch of its Voice SMS service in 16 circles with Kirusa. What’s interesting from a marketing point of view, is that Airtel has been promoting its Voice SMS service, powered by Bubble Motion for a few weeks now, and Vodafone will be able to take advantage of that buzz now. What we’re not sure of, is whether Vodafone is deploying the Voice SMS service in one shot, or like Airtel, has been deploying the service circle by circle. Airtel first began deploying Bubble Talk in 2006, in Goa and Maharashtra.

Both companies have priced the service at Rs. 0.75 per minute, and it is available to both Prepaid and Postpaid subscribers. Details of how Vodafones service works:

– Does not require any special handsets, or handset settings
– Vodafone subscribers have to dial* and the mobile number of the person for sending the message.
– If the recipient is a Vodafone subscriber, he will receive a text SMS notification and can dial *0* to hear the Voice SMS.
– Old Voice SMS can be retrieved by dialing *1*.
– Users can replying, forwarding, saving or deleting the Voice SMS messages.
– Subscribers not on the Vodafone network will get a text SMS notification with an embedded DirectListen number

An issue for Airtel: Twice in the last 30 minutes, I’ve been unable to send a voice SMS since “All lines are currently busy”. Looks like they don’t have enough capacity for the service.

Some thoughts on Voice SMS (more…)

Telecom Operators Outsource Game Deck Management…Finally

Update: An clarification from Real Networks. We’re told that Indiagames is adivising them on game deck management as a significant content provider, and not managing the network itself. The error is regretted:

“We take this opportunity to  refer to your article in “MediaNama regarding Management of Game section in Airtel Live Portal. Please note that RealNetworks has been managing the Airtel Live portal since almost three years now and currently have a contract dated February 29^th 2008 with Airtel to manage the entire Airtel Live portal against certain revenue share. Indiagames is one of the content providers who are providing gaming contents, like over 50 CPs who are providing the contents to various sections/categories in Airtel Live WAP portal. The actual content placement and management is done by our team based in Gurgaon. This is an expert area and RealNetworks has many global references where we have similar arrangement with operators (refer attached list). RealNetworks is a global leader in digital entertainment including mobile VAS and has many patent related to mobile VAS.”

Original story:

Indiagames is managing the Airtel Live game deck
Another indication of the trend that Indian mobile operators are loosening their hold over mobile data services: MediaNama has learned from reliable, industry sources that UTV owned Indiagames has been managing Airtel’s game deck for the last 3 months. We’re also told that gaming has become the largest contributor to revenues from the on-deck portal Airtel Live. However, it’s important to note that Caller RingBack Tones (CRBTs) are not a part of Airtel Live.

A “game deck” is essentially the catalogue of games that are displayed to the consumer on a WAP portal. Consumers tend not to dig too deep when accessing game decks, so deck management - choosing which games to display on the first few pages, is key to sales.

We contacted Samir Bangara, COO of Indiagames, who declined to confirm or deny the news, saying only that “Airtel is a key account for Indiagames, and we continue to find various ways of working strategically with them”. We’re also awaiting a response from Airtel.

Indiagames is both a games publisher and a distributor in India, so there could be a conflict of interest there, particularly when other game publishers are involved. Last year, at a NASSCOM Animation and Gaming panel on mobile gaming that I had moderated, Bangara had mentioned that Indiagames is working on a Games On Demand (subscription) service for the mobile. That hasn’t been launched yet, and I wonder if this is a precursor to the launch of that service.

End2End Mobile To Manage Vodafone India’s Game Deck?
We’ve also learned that End2End Mobile will be managing the game deck for Vodafone in India. End2End, rather MACH India, is operating out of Hyderabad and Bangalore. The service isn’t live yet. We’ve written to them, and are awaiting a response. According to their website, End2End Content Services “specialises in running content retail portals for mobile operators, portals and content providers.” Vodafone is one of their more significant customers, with deals in New Zealand, Turkey and Egypt.

What about RCOM?
All said and done, it’s good to see operators outsourcing their game deck management - something, for which they had been criticized, though not openly, by gaming companies. Games aren’t exactly ringtones and ringback tones, which enjoy marketing support, and gaming companies will invariably have a better understanding of gameplay, and which games work, and which don’t. At the same time, there’s a risk that if a publisher manages a game deck, he might push his own games.

At the same NASSCOM conference, Krishna Durbha, Head VAS, Business & Marketing for RCOM had invited gaming companies to manage RCOM game decks…I wonder if any gaming companies approached KD regarding the game deck management, and whether he followed through…

Bharatmatrimony Launched On Airtel Live

Bharatmatrimony.com has become the second matrimonial portal to in a mobile operator tie-up, after Shaadi.com launched a host of services with Vodafone launched last month. Bharatmatrimony is offering Airtel customers matrimonial subscription services at Rs. 20 per week, which gives them access to an additional contact.

While the type of services are rather limited, this deal appears to be better than the one that Shaadi is offering Vodafone customers:

But does the price difference really matter?
I don’t think it does. Not many mobile subscribers will be using both Vodafone and Airtel, and selection of an operator is not likely to be determined by which matrimonial service they are providing.

This is more of a distribution deal for Shaadi and BM, and primarily a means of acquiring new customers. A few months from now, we’ll check up with both Shaadi and Bharatmatrimony about usage trends - whether they’re acquiring new customers, or is the service being used by online users. Ideally, both services would like to be live across all mobile operators, and not the exclusive mandate of any one.

This is yet another bullet point in the one-upmanship game between Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony - both announced DTH launches earlier this year - Shaadi with Dish TV and Bharatmatrimony with Tata Sky.

Related:
- Shaadi.com & Vodafone Ink Revenue Share Deal For Matrimonial On WAP, Voice Portal & SMS
– Manorama Group Launches Matrimonial Site; Other Classifieds To Move To Verticals?
– Matrimonial Sites Ink DTH Deals - Shaadi-DishTV, Bharatmatrimony-Tata Sky

iPhone Roundup: BSNL, Nazara, Airtel EMI

Airtel To Offer iPhone on EMI: Just around a fortnight after launching the overpriced iPhone in India, Airtel is now offering it via Equitable Monthly Installments (EMI), in a tie-up with VISA, which covers card-holders from ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Citibank. I wouldn’t be surprised if Voda also does this as well. Given Apples tendency to reduce iPhone prices or upgrade models regularly, what really is the point of buying the overpriced phone right now anyway, with or without the EMI? Details on the EMI plan here.

BSNL To Consider Getting On The iPhone Bandwagon
So then why-oh-why would BSNL also want to offer the iPhone? Perhaps the bling value will be greater in Category B circles than Category A. Anyway, FE reports that on September 30th, BSNL circle heads will meet to take a call on whether they will make iPhones available to consumers…as if Apple has no say in this matter.

Nazara Releases iPhone Game
Sequoia funded mobile gaming co Nazara Technologies is reportedly in talks with Apple, Airtel and Voda for iPhone games based on Ekalavya and The Great Yudhistra. They’ve set up a separate team for the 3G products and iPhone, CEO Nitish Mittersain told the Hindu. The games are likely to cost between Rs. 30-50. This the first we’re hearing of Nazara since the talk of their second round of funding last year. Did they eventually get funded?