Month: March 2014

What is an OTT Service – WatsApp, Line, Viber etc ? How it Works ?

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OTT ServicesWe’ve received e-mails asking to explain OTT Apps in the context of Telecommunication Services. In a series of post we attempt to explain OTT Apps & Services.

Over the Top Service (OTT) is the general term for an application / service or content delivered over an independent Internet based medium. OTT operators are typically independent by nature from the telco and because of the various platforms offered by smartphone operating systems, they are able to replicate and replace traditional telco services such as voice and messaging and deliver the services over the traditional telco pipes (pay TV for example) without any affiliation to a specific telco operator.

OTT communications services allow users

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How to Obtain, Store and Transact BitCoins ?

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Buy Bitcoin TransactionIn the previous article we have seen What is a Bitcoin and How they are Created. We’ll now try to explain in simple English How can one Obtain, Store and Transact using Bitcoins.

How can one Obtain Bitcoin ?
Bitcoin are obtained either through mining them yourself (out of reach for most people and institutions at this point given the sophistication of the computing power now required to do so) or by buying them from exchanges or from individuals that are selling them directly. There are roughly one hundred or more bitcoin exchanges around the world and new ones seem to be popping up daily. Examples include Slovenia-based Bitstamp, Bulgaria based BTC-e and

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What is Bitcoin & How are they Created ?

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Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network that allows for the proof and transfer of ownership without the need for a trusted third party. The unit of the network is bitcoin (with a little “b”), or BTC, which many consider a currency or internet cash. The Bitcoin network was conceived in 2008 and launched in 2009 by a programmer(s) who used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and whose identity remains uncertain. The network is based on a mathematical proof; people around the world called “miners” use software programs that follow a mathematical formula to produce bitcoins. The formula and software are freely available for

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How Airtel Pre-Paid Tariffs Changed in Jan-Feb 2014 ?

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Airtel PrePaid Mobile TariffsOur recent channel checks suggest that operators across circles continue to withdraw / reduce discounted / free minutes; however, the pace appears to have slowed. While we also picked up increasing instances of rising discounts (i.e., a reduction in RPM), the overall trajectory still remains with an upward bias on realisations. Our discussions with retailers also indicated that commission levels have remained stable over the past 6-8 months (possibly indicating this cost may not be squeezed any more).

Airtel India Increased tariffs across 16 Circles in Pre-Paid Segment leading to higher RPM while it had to offer Discounts to Competition to maintain the Average MoU Traction in 6 Circles where it reduced tariffs

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State & Scope of Online Travel Market in India

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Online Travel IndustryThe travel market size in India is US$19.6bn, of which 35% is transacted online, which puts the size of online travel market in India at US$6.9bn. Interestingly, in India, after air travel, it is rail transportation which draws maximum online bookings. Out of the US$6.9bn in online sales, air travel constitutes $4.1bn and rail transportation $2.2bn.

How Indian online travel market differs from the US market?
Hotel reservation and packaged tours are the biggest online travel spend segments in the US aggregating to 56% of total online travel spends, followed by air tickets which constitute 37% of the spends. As against this, in India, air tickets constitute 58% of online travel spends with Hotels & Packages, being a nascent

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Future of Digital Advertising – Internet, Mobile & Video

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Digital Advertising - Mobile, Internet, Video IndiaThe past decade has seen significant migration of advertising dollars from traditional media like TV and newspapers to digital channels like internet and mobile devices.

Mobile Advertising
Mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – are changing the consumption pattern of various publishing platforms and content. User engagement on mobile devices is significantly better than on the desktop given the 24×7 availability of mobile communication amongst other things. The best examples of this shift are Facebook and Twitter, where engagement and monetisation have significantly moved to the mobile format. On a worldwide basis, mobile advertising still represents less than 2% of total advertising spends and around 8% of total spends on digital media. As brought out by examples of Facebook and Twitter, it is imperative for other platforms to build their mobile presence more extensively in terms of apps and otherwise, which in turn

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How Data Vs Voice Pricing is a Risk to Airtel, Vodafone, Idea ?

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Mobile Broadband Vs VoiceMany Mobile apps now offer either voice messaging (Wechat) or straight VoIP functionality (Skype, Viber, Line). While it is difficult to prove a direct linkage between usage of these apps and usage/revenue trends within the traditional telcos, there is at least anecdotal evidence that, on average, rising 3G / 4G penetration rates are usually associated with falling voice minutes of use.

We do not attempt to prove that messaging apps are cannibalizing voice. Instead, we attempt to quantify the cost savings to users (and therefore the voice revenue risk to operators) were subscribers to move their current voice usage over to a VoIP data based pricing model.

Compression ratios for the various CODECs used by VoIP providers vary, but we understand the most frequently used is the G.729 CODEC. Adjusting a minute

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Redington SmartPhone Sales Doubles – Flipkart, SnapDeal its Customers

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REdington SmartPhone BusinessIn India, which accounts for 44% of Redington’s revenue, weightage of smartphones has risen from 18% to 36% between 3Q last year and this year. Smartphone shipments are rising at nearly 100% per annum.

Flipkart, SnapDeal Online Retailers BUY from Redington
Redington does not see any threat from online retailers such as Flipkart and SnapDeal, which are its customers. Distribution is a low margin business (4-6%) even for a specialised player such as Redington, and online retailers prefer using logistics and distribution services from a specialist. Even in the US, 70% of the IT product distribution for online retailers happens through specialised distributors.

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How Reliance Jio / Airtel will Delpoy 4G Network Using FDD-LTE(1800MHz) & TD-LTE(2300MHz) ?

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Airtel Reliance Jio 4G LTEReliance Jio Infocomm’s primary focus is 4G LTE and FTTH services. Pre auction, the biggest concern was Reliance Jio’s foray into telecoms and especially 900 MHz spectrum and 2G voice market. Reliance Jio has spent Rs111bn acquiring 1800 MHz spectrum of an average 5.6 MHz pair band across 14 circles in contiguous block. This will enable it to provide FDD LTE services along with TDD in 2300 MHz, including voice to non-RJIL networks. Likewise, Airtel has already rolled out 4G LTE Services in the 2300MHz band with CSFB Technology.

Our discussions with various Network Engineers

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Which SmartPhones are 4G LTE Compatible to Airtel / Reliance Jio ?

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4G LTE HandsetsMukesh Ambani of Reliance Jio Infocomm is best known to create hype over his unborn ventures so that it becomes a self marketing tool. Even though Airtel has successfully launched 4G LTE Services, we have had very few inquiries regrading Airtel 4G and dozens of e-mails from our readers asking us to list out all the 4G LTE compatible handsets with Reliance Jio Infocomm.

How to Choose a 4G LTE Compatible Phone ?
One should be careful to see which 4G LTE compatible phones will actually work in India ? Follow these steps.
1. Identify the SmartPhone Handset or Model.
2. Then goto to the section which

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