Aerovoyce is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) which launched its services last month in Tamil Nadu, covering cities like Salem, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari. MVNO's essentially buy different services (data, voice, messaging etc) in bulk from different telecom operators, and sell them under their own brand. Aerovoyce, which claims to have invested more than Rs 300 crore into its MVNO business, will bundle its mobile wallet and payments services with every SIM card: it operates under its parent company ‘ADPAY', which provides operator billing, mobile WAP/VAS, mobile ad networks and payment services to telecom companies. Given the upheaval in the telecom space in the last year, with calling and data prices declining, and the market being highly competitive, where is the room for an MVNO in India? Will telecom operators work with an entity that could buy their services in bulk and price it cheaper, thus impacting their core business? Why would an MVNO focus on a low ARPU rural market, instead of a high yield urban market? How will it make money in the rural market? MediaNama spoke with Sivakumar Kuppusamy, Founder & CEO of Aerovoyce to get answers to some of these questions. Select excerpts from the conversation. Why Aerovoyce is focusing on the rural market "We are currently running our MVNO services using our own cloud and our own infrastructure. So we need to test our network with existing telco’s infrastructure and optimise it better before expansion. So that's why we have limited this rollout in the first phase, wherein the focus…
