Gumansinh
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Bharti Airtel,
the country's biggest
telecom operator, is set
to offer free internet to
subscribers for trial as
the company looks to
convert more users into
'internet users' to push
up revenues and profits.
Data is gradually turning
out to be the cash-cow of
mobile companies,
which have long been
battling stiff competition
in voice business, where
prices are among the
lowest in the world and
margins are not big.
Airtel has sensed an opportunity
here as despite having 210 million
customers in its kitty, the company
has only 40 million users on the
internet. As per its estimates, 60
million additional users could join
the data bandwagon as they have
internet-capable phones but do not
go on the web.
This is where it wants to step in —
offer limited-period free trails for
popular services like Facebook,
Youtube, Snapdeal, Makemytrip and
Twitter, along with tutorials. Once
the user likes a service and wants
more, the company will offer you
dirt-free solutions — for example,
pay Re 1 for using Facebook or
Twitter for a day. This will be done
as part of a new initiative — One
Touch Internet.
"The launch of One Touch Internet is
a simplification of how to use the
internet. Pricing is intuitive,
applications are free for trial and
scores of applications have been
curated in an easy to use interface.
We believe every customer can be
on the internet," Airtel India CEO and
MD Gopal Vittal told TOI.
The company has been trying to
push up data usage through such
initiatives and these include the 'Re 1
Entertainment Store', 'myPlan' and
'Vernacular Airtel Live' Portal.
Srinivasan Gopalan, director
(consumer business), said he expects
internet users and usage to go up
through the initiative. "This will pull
in subscribers, who currently do not
access the net as they feel it is
wasteful and of not much value or
are worried about the cost."
While free trials are a novelty in
Airtel's offer, it is not the only
company to offer dirt-free internet
packs. Uninor, the Indian wing of
Norway's Telenor, charges 50 paise
for an hour of usage of facebook,
while pricing a day's Whatsapp use
for Re 1.
For Airtel, the share of data in total
revenues has been growing very
fast. In the July-September '14-15
quarter, mobile data contributed
14.5% to Airtel's revenues, up from
9% in the same quarter last fiscal. In
fact, the data revenues grew by 74%
in the quarter.
A big reason behind the growth in
data usage is the gradual
proliferation of smartphones in
India. Prices of smartphones have
been coming down steadily. Morgan
Stanley predicts that data
subscribers in India will grow at a
25% CAGR to 519 million till FY18
against 210 million now.
the country's biggest
telecom operator, is set
to offer free internet to
subscribers for trial as
the company looks to
convert more users into
'internet users' to push
up revenues and profits.
Data is gradually turning
out to be the cash-cow of
mobile companies,
which have long been
battling stiff competition
in voice business, where
prices are among the
lowest in the world and
margins are not big.
Airtel has sensed an opportunity
here as despite having 210 million
customers in its kitty, the company
has only 40 million users on the
internet. As per its estimates, 60
million additional users could join
the data bandwagon as they have
internet-capable phones but do not
go on the web.
This is where it wants to step in —
offer limited-period free trails for
popular services like Facebook,
Youtube, Snapdeal, Makemytrip and
Twitter, along with tutorials. Once
the user likes a service and wants
more, the company will offer you
dirt-free solutions — for example,
pay Re 1 for using Facebook or
Twitter for a day. This will be done
as part of a new initiative — One
Touch Internet.
"The launch of One Touch Internet is
a simplification of how to use the
internet. Pricing is intuitive,
applications are free for trial and
scores of applications have been
curated in an easy to use interface.
We believe every customer can be
on the internet," Airtel India CEO and
MD Gopal Vittal told TOI.
The company has been trying to
push up data usage through such
initiatives and these include the 'Re 1
Entertainment Store', 'myPlan' and
'Vernacular Airtel Live' Portal.
Srinivasan Gopalan, director
(consumer business), said he expects
internet users and usage to go up
through the initiative. "This will pull
in subscribers, who currently do not
access the net as they feel it is
wasteful and of not much value or
are worried about the cost."
While free trials are a novelty in
Airtel's offer, it is not the only
company to offer dirt-free internet
packs. Uninor, the Indian wing of
Norway's Telenor, charges 50 paise
for an hour of usage of facebook,
while pricing a day's Whatsapp use
for Re 1.
For Airtel, the share of data in total
revenues has been growing very
fast. In the July-September '14-15
quarter, mobile data contributed
14.5% to Airtel's revenues, up from
9% in the same quarter last fiscal. In
fact, the data revenues grew by 74%
in the quarter.
A big reason behind the growth in
data usage is the gradual
proliferation of smartphones in
India. Prices of smartphones have
been coming down steadily. Morgan
Stanley predicts that data
subscribers in India will grow at a
25% CAGR to 519 million till FY18
against 210 million now.
