India Broadband / Technology

Mobile Money Fragmentation (Telcos / Banks) Breaks Mass Market

September 15, 2021May 14, 2015 by Webmaster

In a world where each nation uses its own currency which could not be exchanged, global commerce would stall. But if one or even two currencies were introduced, which were accepted globally, international commerce could resume.

Using this analogy, we argue that fragmented industries (Telecom Companies / Banks) fundamentally cannot successfully launch global m-payment systems as by definition they are too regional. If consumers want to make a purchase or transfer through a mobile, they don’t want to discover their m-payment mechanism isn’t compatible. Therefore, we believe that a sustainable, long-term m-payment application will require a critical mass comparable to the number of iPhone (600m) or Android (1.9bn) users and consequently

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Reliance Jio Lights Up 60,000+ Towers, Testing Small Cell Networks

April 22, 2020May 13, 2015 by Webmaster

We got some updates on Reliance Jio Infocomm’s network from some of the Service Providers(SP) who are currently serving the upcoming telco. Of the ~65,000 sites of RJio that are currently installed, it appears 28,000-30,000 are RJio’s own towers (mix of poles and full ground based towers). If true, this is a much larger share of own towers in RJio’s network than what we had earlier anticipated.

Further, one of the SPs we spoke to that has a contract from Reliance Jio in few of the circles indicated that many of these sites are up and running (i.e. company is spending on fuel/power on a daily basis) as network testing is aggressively being carried out. The SP is gearing up for the launch of commercial voice+data services (23000MHz + 1800MHz) by Reliance Jio in a handful of cities in June / July.

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Why iPhone & Mac Sales Grow while iPad Slips ?

May 12, 2015 by Webmaster

iPhone continues to be the key driver of top-line and bottom-line upside, with units up 40% y/y—two and a half times the pace of IDC’s estimate for 16% growth within the smartphone market globally (and well above our 25% estimate heading into the print). In particular, emerging markets were the key driver of this upside, with unit sales up 63% y/y in emerging regions, and in China, the iPhone was up over 70% y/y. Management noted it continues to see a higher rate of switchers with the iPhone 6/6 Plus relative to prior iPhone cycles, and that there is a sizeable number of first-time buyers, particularly in emerging markets.

Tim Cook appeared optimistic that the iPhone can maintain its momentum, noting

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Want to Stay Connected? Choose Your Internet Service Provider Wisely!

May 6, 2015 by Vijayraj

The internet has brought the world much closer. India has also been affected in more ways than one because of the surge in internet usage. And this cannot be better corroborated than our outstanding contribution in the outsourcing industry. Recent initiatives of the Indian government to bring last mile connectivity also indicate growing demand in the country.

Historically, when Indians moved houses or evaluated rental homes, things like electricity, water, accessibility to daily needs and transport were main considerations. Now internet connectivity has been added to the list.

Internet service providers in India have become more professional and offer more choices to the urban consumer now. Earlier, dial-up connections were the order of the day and in addition to state owned enterprises; you could find only a couple of private vendors who would charge a premium for their services.

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Reliance Jio 4G LTE Mega Nation Wide Launch Delayed

April 23, 2015 by Webmaster

Based on our Industry & Insider channel checks, we find Reliance Jio Infocomm well placed to meet the rollout obligations by Aug-2015 i.e. they will likely have a soft launch with adequate towers. We believe that the actual launch will be around Dec-15 coinciding with founder Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth anniversary (vs. market expectation of May-15) as the company may take some time to have a good quality network to be operational.

In our independent assesment some of the reasons for the delay in launch vs. our expectations are 1) Time taken to rollout fiber as approvals for right of way (RoW) take time; 2) Rolling out a good quality 2300MHz & 1800Mhz 4G network with offloading via WiFi and Small-cells is taking more time and 3) Jio may look for a good quality voice solution on 4G network like Vo-LTE with the latest acquistion of 800Mhz spectrum rather than a fallback on traditional 2G or 3G network.

If the company is going for

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Reliance Jio Chat App Achieves 100,000 Downloads – Review

April 20, 2015 by Webmaster

Reliance Jio Infocomm’s Jio Chat App which went live 10 days ago and has achieved 100,000 downloads with an average 4.3 Rating from 10,000 users on the Android Platform. The app is also launched for iPhone users as well. The app highlights Jio’s intention to eventually become a single platform for users (voice, messaging, entertainment & ecommerce), similar to that of Chinese apps.

Jio chat offers the features of WhatsApp – messaging and calls on data. It includes other features including a channels section, where it has tied with various companies for content (entertainment & ecommerce), and conferencing
facility including video. Jio chat app offers File / Media & Contact sharing. It also offers 100 free SMS/mth (sent on data) which would be useful and applicable in case either sender/recipient’s data network at the time of sending the message is unavailable. This is unlike WhatsApp where messages sent through remain in the network in case of data issues and sent / received once

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Mobile Powers Chinese Rural e-Commerce

April 16, 2015 by Webmaster

According to research recently released by bjbusiness, roughly 64% of netizens in rural China shop via mobile phone, far in excess of those who shop by PC (~36%). In many of China’s less developed markets, the smart phone is indeed the key gateway to internet access rather than the PC due to the lower device cost when compared with the PC. E-commerce penetration in rural areas has risen substantially, as key e-commerce players such as Alibaba and JD shift their strategic focus from top-tier cities to rural areas. Mobile usage meanwhile has come to embrace online shopping quite rapidly and seamlessly.

Roughly 74% of rural netizens indicate Taobao and Tmall as their most frequently visited e-commerce sites, while

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High Speed / Fast Charging SmartPhones – New USP

April 15, 2015 by Webmaster

In the past two years, big screen phones have been gaining popularity. Due to the bigger size of battery, phablet battery hours usually are longer. According to Apple, iPhone 6+ can last 24 hours’ talk time on 3G vs 14 hours for iPhone 6. This is because iPhone 6+ has a 2,915 mAh capacity battery, 61% larger vs iPhone 6’s 1810 mAh. However, the downside is that charging takes much longer. For example, it can take 3~4 hours to fully charge an iPhone 6+.

Samsung adopted fast charging in Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S6. We expect many international and Chinese brand smartphones to start adopting similar technologies with models launching in 2H15. High Speed / Fast Charging SmartPhones constitute < 10% of the market today and is expected

Just Dial Asset Light Local Commerce, Open to Partnership

April 13, 2015 by Webmaster

In an era where JustDial – JD is competing with the PE-backed internet players that are flush with cash and have an appetite for cash burn, JD unveiled its strategy saying that it maintains belief that over the longer term, JD will be able to compete and emerge stronger vs. vertical / horizontal players who are gaining top-line market share by burning cash.

Just Dial has invested heavily in making a mobile app that can provide multiple touch points for the consumer. The single focus for technological evolution at the company is linked to make JD the preferred platform for all

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