# Presentation: 733626

## The Wireless Experience India - 2002

**Session III: Telecommunication in Developing Countries**

## This Presentation is About..

- _My view_ of India’s wireless experience as a window into a developing Country
- The explosion throughout _2002_
**The factors that drive the introduction of a “disruptive” technology into a new territory**_._

## I am

- Speaking from the perspective of a wireless SP
- 5 years in the US
- 1 year in Mumbai (“Bombay”)
- Scattered Negotiations in Europe/Asia
- Covering
- TDMA, CDMA, CDMA 2000, GSM
- Network design through rollout
- Regulatory, business, and government issues

## The India Marketplace

- Telecom is an enabler to business
- Metrics are separate village and city strategies
- 500 people per PCO (teledensity)
- Two tier wireless licenses
- Roaming GSM and WLL (“limited mobility”)
- 22 circles with two cellular providers each
- Government as
- licenser, competitor, partner, regulator
- “disvestment” in international, local

## The View from Mumbai

## The View of all India

## Factors Driving Wireless in India

- The Grand Plan
- Starting Point
- Technology Issues
- Participation of the Government
- Relations with other Parts of the Business
- The Cultural Reference Points
- Show Stoppers!

## The Grand Plan 1

## The Grand Plan 2

## Starting Point

- “mediocre” service
- Can’t call neighbor
- Not reliable
- Distance sensitive costs
- Burden to access international
- (incoming vs. outgoing)
- few land lines on “old” technologies
- No SS7
- low socioeconomic base (literacy/addresses)
- PCO

## The Technologies Themselves

- GSM & CDMA 2000
- Local & Roaming & WLL
- Voice & Data
- pre and post paid
- Services (SMS, Games, Matrimonial)

## Participation of the Government

- Government
- Owners & Competition
- “disinvestment”
- changing rules
- License fee’s changed 3 times in one year

- Regulation
- Bureaucratic
- “influenced” by financial considerations
- Intermixed with business
- For international equipment the government was a part of your shipping/receiving dept and took 16 weeks

## Relations with other Parts of the Business

- The Industry
- Foreign partners (49 %)
- Expatriate staff
- Most with no experience in telecom
- Isolated from incumbent government providers
- Cut-throat negotiations
- One company started with $167m from the petroleum field and decided one day to be a telco

- The Business
- Majority (lower classes)
- Prepaid
- Anonomous
- Voice only
- Minority
- Postpaid
- Data & games & SMS
- Business Structure
- Local partners and franchise
- Stocks and bond
- PCOs and the Handicapped
- Cell phones as a “benefit”

## The Cultural Reference Points

- You have to be prepaid if you have no address or identity
- Pre-paid cards can be used with wired PCOs
- Anonymity & theft & Terrorism
- Matrimonial Services and Cultural Usage
- Class & Caste distinction

## Show Stoppers 2002

- License Fee Changes 		(3 times)
- Anonymity Issue 			(2 months lost)
- IP pre-paid cards 			(1 month lost)
- “Limited roaming with WLL” 	(3 months lost)
- International Call Routing 	(2 weeks lost)

## Over the Year

|  | Start of 2002 | End of 2002 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| # of actual SPs | 2 (per circle) | 8 (all tech) |
| Prepaid month | $6 | $3 |
| Call cost minute (off net) | $0.20
(if available) | $0.02
(.008) |
| Call cost minute (on net) | $0.20 | free |
| Subscribers/Mon | 200k | 700k |

## View Throughout 2003

## As a Comparison 2002

|  | India | China |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SPs | 8-10 | 2 |
| Technologies | 3 | 1 or 1 |
| Population | 1 billion | 1 billion |
| Adaptation | 700k / month | 5m / month |
| Showstoppers | Multiple | Switch to 3G |

## Conclusion

- Thank you!
- Any Questions?

## From the Indian Perspective

- My SP went live in December 2002
- One month before they went live
- They had a employee trial with free phones
- They had sold 10,000 handsets that could not be used until the new year.
- They had a complete sales distribution network and revenue stream ready
- They were in the black