Instant messaging apps cos should be regulated: Airtel
28 Feb 2014 12:02 AM GMT
‘Telecom companies are subject to regulation and jurisdictions. Many of these companies (Instant messaging application firms) operate outside regulations and jurisdiction.
‘I think we need a framework by which these companies are subjected to similar jurisdiction ... because that will benefit everybody concerned,’ Bharti Airtel Joint MD and CEO (India operations) Gopal Vittal said. ‘A debate should start on putting that framework in place’, he added.
WhatsApp had recently announced that it would start offering voice service by June this year. Social networking site Facebook had already announced acquisition of WhatsApp by $19 billion. The instant messaging application, which allows users to exchange texts, pictures and videos using smart-phones, is popular in India.
WhatsApp has 450 million users worldwide. It claims it is adding one million new users every day. In the last few quarters, there has been a huge surge in text volumes from platforms like WhatsApp, Tencent-backed WeChat and Line that presents a cheaper alternative to SMS. The data cost incurred for sending messages through these apps by users are cheaper than those charged by telcos on SMS.
According to experts, the instant messaging has already overtaken traditional SMS, which is a key revenue source for operators. The popularity of such applications has dented the revenues earned from text messaging by telcos.
Asked if the voice services from WhatsApp will be a threat to mobile operators, Vittal said: ‘I think there are already lots of applications that are offering voice free, so it is nothing new. I think many of these applications are going to be important because at the end of the day they grow our data revenues as well.’
‘India will have just five-six mobile operators after consolidation’
Barcelona: Bharti Airtel on Thursday said that the consolidation in the country’s telecom sector will take place through a combination of acquisitions, spectrum trading and sharing and India will eventually have 5-6 mobile operators. ‘There has to be some form of shakeout where you end up with five, may be six, operators. That will happen through a combination of three things - acquisitions, spectrum trading and sharing,’ Bharti Airtel Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (India Operations) Gopal Vittal said.
He said consolidation is needed because the spectrum holding of individual operators in India is very small due to which costs are high. ‘If you look at the spectrum that is made available to operators in India, it is only around 40 per cent of the global average. This amount is divided into many operators, so the holding of individual operators is very small. Now the consequence of that is higher cost, more cost, more towers, more diesel,’ he said. According to rating agency Fitch, India can in the long run support five-six profitable telecom operators. Currently, there are about a dozen players, with many making losses. Airtel, India’s largest telecom company, recently bought Mumbai-based Loop Mobile for about Rs 700 crore and was among the eight companies that bid for spectrum in an auction this month.
Asked if companies had paid a high price for spectrum in the 900 MHz band, Vittal said, ‘We had an existing business to protect and we had to defend that business and pick up that spectrum in order to run our business. In 20 years, how much change is going to be, we don’t know... I think the need for spectrum in this market is going to be so enormous in future that we would be sitting five years later and saying thank god we’ve got spectrum,’ he said.
‘I think we need a framework by which these companies are subjected to similar jurisdiction ... because that will benefit everybody concerned,’ Bharti Airtel Joint MD and CEO (India operations) Gopal Vittal said. ‘A debate should start on putting that framework in place’, he added.
WhatsApp had recently announced that it would start offering voice service by June this year. Social networking site Facebook had already announced acquisition of WhatsApp by $19 billion. The instant messaging application, which allows users to exchange texts, pictures and videos using smart-phones, is popular in India.
WhatsApp has 450 million users worldwide. It claims it is adding one million new users every day. In the last few quarters, there has been a huge surge in text volumes from platforms like WhatsApp, Tencent-backed WeChat and Line that presents a cheaper alternative to SMS. The data cost incurred for sending messages through these apps by users are cheaper than those charged by telcos on SMS.
According to experts, the instant messaging has already overtaken traditional SMS, which is a key revenue source for operators. The popularity of such applications has dented the revenues earned from text messaging by telcos.
Asked if the voice services from WhatsApp will be a threat to mobile operators, Vittal said: ‘I think there are already lots of applications that are offering voice free, so it is nothing new. I think many of these applications are going to be important because at the end of the day they grow our data revenues as well.’
‘India will have just five-six mobile operators after consolidation’
Barcelona: Bharti Airtel on Thursday said that the consolidation in the country’s telecom sector will take place through a combination of acquisitions, spectrum trading and sharing and India will eventually have 5-6 mobile operators. ‘There has to be some form of shakeout where you end up with five, may be six, operators. That will happen through a combination of three things - acquisitions, spectrum trading and sharing,’ Bharti Airtel Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (India Operations) Gopal Vittal said.
He said consolidation is needed because the spectrum holding of individual operators in India is very small due to which costs are high. ‘If you look at the spectrum that is made available to operators in India, it is only around 40 per cent of the global average. This amount is divided into many operators, so the holding of individual operators is very small. Now the consequence of that is higher cost, more cost, more towers, more diesel,’ he said. According to rating agency Fitch, India can in the long run support five-six profitable telecom operators. Currently, there are about a dozen players, with many making losses. Airtel, India’s largest telecom company, recently bought Mumbai-based Loop Mobile for about Rs 700 crore and was among the eight companies that bid for spectrum in an auction this month.
Asked if companies had paid a high price for spectrum in the 900 MHz band, Vittal said, ‘We had an existing business to protect and we had to defend that business and pick up that spectrum in order to run our business. In 20 years, how much change is going to be, we don’t know... I think the need for spectrum in this market is going to be so enormous in future that we would be sitting five years later and saying thank god we’ve got spectrum,’ he said.
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