From Garoweonline.com
Mobile manufacturers trying to capitalise on Rural India
By
Sep 4, 2007 - 12:47:59 AM
BANGALORE:
The cellphone market in the country is seeing new-age users like farmers, fruit
sellers, who are increasingly using this tool to boost their businesses. Handset
manufacturers are now trying to capitalise on this growing demand
Scenario
1
: Xavier is a Bangalore based balloon
seller and has been in the trade for the past 15 years. During off-season period
he does odd jobs as a repairman and a parttime accountant. But since acquiring a
phone a year ago he has been able to increase the number of his earning days.
Explains Xavier: “Now I
can switch between different fairs on the same day, after confirming where the
sales are high. I am able to sell balloons at fairs that are happening outside
Bangalore . And with the phone my repair services can also be coordinated , as I
am easily accessible to people who have a job for me. Earlier I used to visit
them frequently to enquire about work.”
Scenario
2:
Harkishan is a watermelon farmer in UP.
He lives in a joint family of 20 members. His father used to beg at one time to
support his family. Harkishan explains, “We sell about 15 tonnes of
watermelon in a season, but the price depends on where we sell the
produce.” Harkishan has had a mobile phone for about three years now. He
says, “Using the phone, I contact wholesale dealers and traders to sell
watermelons. I also find out the prevailing rates in different markets and
decide on where to sell my produce.”
According to a study done by
LIRNEasia and AC Nielson, close to 100 million new cellular subscribers are
expected to come from the rural areas over the next two years.
Nokia recently commissioned a
research called Mobility Development Report through The Centre for Knowledge
Societies (CKS) to understand the nuances of this spawning market opportunity.
The report identifies seven service areas, namely transport, micro-commerce,
finance, healthcare, governance, education and infotainment, which could be
transformed for rural communities by mobile communications.
For instance, public transport
is not available in 45% of villages in India, and only 1% of Indian households
own a vehicle. Mobile communication could be used to create and co-ordinate car
sharing schemes amongst villages, and provide real-time information about public
transport services and the ability to make request stops.
The power of mobile telephony
is redefining the economic and social fabric of rural India. The country adds
six million new mobile subscriptions each month.
The teledensity has increased
to 20.52% in July 2007 from 19.86% in June 2007, according to the Trai. One in
every five persons now owns a telephone as the total number of subscribers
reached 232.87 million by July.
The total wireless subscriber
base has touched 192.98 million now. The rural markets contribute about 5% of
the national GSM handset sales, according to a study done by LIRNEasia and AC
Nielson. This is expected to rise to 25-30 % by 2009.
And by the end of next year,
three quarters of India’s population will be covered by a mobile network.
Many of these new mobile
citizens live in poorer and farflung with scarce infrastructure, poor
illiteracy. It’s no surprise then that handset makers like Nokia,
Motorola, Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson are trying hard to get their
India-formula right, to capitalise on the rural market.
Nokia recently commissioned a
research called Mobility Development Report through The Centre for Knowledge
Societies (CKS) to understand the nuances of this spawning market opportunity.
Rural-Friendly
Phones
Based on
extensive studies Nokia has realised that when designing a product for rural
markets there are certain aspects of the form factor that needs to be kept in
mind. For instance; a farmer is not keen on having a camera on phone. But radio
capabilities are appreciated since these
People are used to listening
to music on a transistor or a similar device.
Explains Devinder Kishore,
(director marketing) Nokia India, “The three killer applications when it
comes to phones for rural market are an in-built torchlight, an alarm clock and
the basic ability to communicate using voice.
Some of the other useful
features are rust resistant keypads, sturdier and breakage proof models, longer
battery life considering they don’t charge their phones on a daily basis
and there is also the problem of power supply in these areas, and importantly
easy to use features and buttons.” Another key element in all this is
language capability.
Since a
large section of these people are not well versed in English, it is absolutely
essential to provide a regional touch. Nokia introduced localised interface in
nine Indian languages in order to provide the benefits of mobility to a larger
section of the society.
There
have been efforts to introduce handsets, which support voice prompts in various
Indian languages . For instance, Motorola has already introduced the MOTOFONE,
which responds to prompts in local languages. According to Lloyd Mathias,
Marketing Director of Mobile Devices at Motorola India, “We developed the
MOTOFONE keeping in mind the semi-urban and rural audiences. The attempt here is
to be able to have a dialogue with the customer.
This model also comes with
higher audio levels, which are necessary given Indian conditions , especially if
the person using it is standing in the midst of a market or so. We have also
taken into consideration factors like longer battery life for the phone with a
quicker recharge time in keeping with known realities like power cuts in these
areas.”
One of the more
expensive features of the mobile handset is the display. However, some experts
argue that although cost reducing, removing LCD display is not an alternative
for poor because of two reasons. Firstly, people don’t want ugly handsets.
The telephone needs to have a
nice design or it will not sell. Secondly, the display offers several features
of added value to the people, such as a clock, light, information about a phone
call, battery time and signal coverage, which are integral to such audiences.
Tailored to
Their Needs
While language is
a huge factor, the relevance and the value derived from the device are equally
important. Adds Samuel Selvakumar, operations director, Hutchison Essar South,
“The onus is on providing people in these areas with services that are
tailor-made to suit their needs. And commodity prices are the biggest draw for
this population. All of them have some sort of produce to bring to the market.
And if we can provide them with timely updates, then they can benefit from the
phone.”
In fact this
phenomenon was studied by a Harvard University economist, Robert Jensen, who
studied the impact of mobile telephony on fishermen in Kerala. Report says,
mobiles have not only eliminated the need for fishermen to dump unsold fish in
the sea, but also helped them increase their margins by 8% while reducing the
prices for consumers by 4%.
The report says that soon
after mobile phone coverage in Kerala spread from 1997 to 2000, the number of
fishermen selling their catch outside their home markets rocketed from zero to
35%.
This also ensured that
instead of selling their fish at beach auctions, the fishermen would call around
to find the best price. “Each community has a specific need based on the
occupation. Everyone wants information. However, designing customised packages
are not an easy task,’’ explains Selvakumar.
Ridden With
Obstacles
But the other
problem is the fact that most people are not comfortable using text options, so
information will have to be provided in voice format. That is another cumbersome
task. “Also the pricing for such services. A farmer cannot afford to pay
Rs 6 per minute to listen to the commodity prices. He will hang up mid way, even
without getting what he wants. So the obstacles are one too many,” says
Selvakumar .
Another stumbling
block often cited is that of a lacking distribution channel for supply,
maintenance and, most importantly, for promotion and communication of the
availability of the technology .
The Last
Word
Even as handset
makers work on models that are low-priced and user-friendly , the onus is on
service providers. They have to ensure that there is last mile connectivity and
relevant information available in a usable format so that, mobile phones can
indeed make life and work in rural India better!
Rural
Friendly Handsets
Battery time
should be substantial, dust-resistance, water-resistance, improved signal
sensitivity, large buttons on keypad, lesser buttons, no buttons on the side.
Display should be prominent,
multilingual support for keypad, women friendly designs, alarm clock,
flashlight, FM/Radio.
Sectors
Which Will Benefit Most
Transport, micro-commerce,
finance, healthcare, governance, education, infotainment.
Sources: The Economic Times
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