Infrastructure and Literacy

Financial Express ,  FE Special

G Krishna Kumar | Updated: Oct 26 2011, 03:40 IST

Despite all the hype about information technology, India is ranked a lowly 116 among 152 countries in the ICT Development Index (IDI) as per ITU’s (International Telecommunications Union) 2011 report. In fact, India has just improved by one rank in the IDI between 2008 and 2010.
It is well established that broadband uptake plays an important role in a country’s ICT growth. Reports suggest that a 10% increase in broadband penetration results in close to a 1.4% increase in a country’s GDP. In fact, in China, every 10% increase in broadband penetration is seen as contributing an additional 2.5% to GDP growth.
Globally, the US, Korea and Japan are leaders in broadband penetration. There are plenty of examples of government initiatives yielding unprecedented growth in broadband— South Korea’s Korea 21, Australia’s National Broadband Network, the EU’s Digital Agenda, Singapore’s iN2015 Master Plan etc. For the technically inclined, broadband is defined as a connection that provides a minimum of 256kbps. While the US has recently tried to raise the minimum speed, the rest of the world, including ITU and OECD, still consider 256 kbps as broadband. In fact, this speed is quite adequate for a large majority of users.
The recent draft National Telecom policy (NTP) 2011 plans to achieve 175 million broadband connections by 2017. Considering that the previous broadband policy failed to meet the goals, how can we be sure that this time around the goals are realistically achievable? Should we simply depend on 3G for broadband uptake?
Why was the broadband uptake slow?
The 2004 broadband policy had set a goal of 20 million broadband users in India by 2010, but in reality only half of that was achieved. Why? The PSU telcos enjoyed a huge monopoly in the fixed-line segment, with over 80% connections. It is well known that the PSUs have challenges in adding broadband connections by themselves due to their antiquated procedures/policies. Also, due to the lack of regulation on unbundling of local loop (sharing the infrastructure among Internet service providers and competing operators), the ISPs were not able to utilise BSNL’s last mile infrastructure. Broadband tariff has not seen reduction akin to the mobile world. It is also observed that India’s fixed-line broadband speeds are far lower compared to the rest of the world, primarily due to lack of maintenance.
Although cable TV has picked up significantly in India, coaxial cable-based broadband did not witness similar uptake due to licensing requirements, quality of infrastructure, and lack of awareness in terms of cost and quality of connection. The lack of awareness among people concerning Internet usage and availability of simple plus meaningful local content acted as a dampener for broadband uptake. Another factor was the inadequate availability of affordable Internet-enabled devices together with high broadband connection costs. So, BSNL enjoyed no competition for two years in 3G deployment and still was not successful in increasing the wireless broadband user base.
Create infrastructure and ecosystem
After the 2010 spectrum auction, 3G and BWA trends indicate that mobile broadband is certain to witness significant addition over the next few years, especially with newer and lower-priced devices like tablets, laptops etc hitting the market. This, coupled with more attractive tariffs, will boost broadband adoption. Any government regulations to improve spectrum efficiency by allowing re-farming and spectrum-sharing among operators will certainly augur well for mobile broadband adoption.
However, due to the limitations of spectrum availability, infrastructure costs and the anticipated demand for huge bandwidth, an alternative long-term broadband solution is needed for India.
The government’s plan to create a pan-India, wired broadband infrastructure with USOF-funded National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is certainly a step in the right direction. NOFN is expected to connect 2,500 village panchayats and would allow all the private operators’ broadband services to rural areas. India already has 7.5 lakh kilometres fibre laid out by private operators. Globally, there are several examples of optical fibre-based networks being successfully deployed and resulting in a huge uptake in broadband.
Once implemented, NFON will certainly give impetus for e-governance initiatives such as e-health, e-banking and e-education. However, given that a PSU telco has been tasked with implementing NFON, the moot question is whether the NOFN infrastructure will really be ready by 2014?
Availability of affordable tablets or PCs will certainly help in rapid broadband adoption. So the government’s initiative in launching the subsidised ultra-low-cost tablet device Aakash is a welcome move. The government’s plan in supporting semiconductor fabs will enable indigenous hardware development. This, coupled with encouragement for R&D and IPR creation, will provide the impetus for availability of affordable devices. Relevant local content and attractive tariffs are also needed for broadband uptake.
Literacy/e-literacy
India has seen unprecedented growth in mobile connections with teledensity reaching over 70%, and with rural teledensity growing at an impressive rate from 1.9% in 2005 to over 35% now. In spite of this phenomenal transformation in communication, India’s human development index stands at an appalling 119th rank of 169 countries.
The literacy level in India must be increased as it is well established that literacy translates into growth and economic development. The latest United Nations HDI trends indicate that countries like Russia, Brazil and China are way ahead compared to India in terms of youth literacy. All the three countries are far ahead of India in terms of broadband penetration as well.
Reports suggest that overall India has less than 10% computer literate population and only 32% of people living in cities are computer literate. Another important area for successful adoption of broadband is to improve e-awareness. This would enable users to understand and appreciate the value of technology and help increase the adoption rate. It is equally important to encourage meaningful/productive use of the Internet. The government could deploy USOF and embark on a mission to increase Internet/mobile broadband/computing awareness with an active collaboration amongst various stakeholders such as the government, telcos, learning content providers, universities, schools and local administration.
NTP 2011 aptly recognises the need for Right to Broadband. A strong broadband network can form the backbone of this country and hence the need to treat broadband
as an essential basic service. For enhancing positive network externalities, it is imperative that the government undertakes measures to improve infrastructure, support an indigenous ecosystem, and rapidly increases literacy/e-literacy across the country.
The author is director and delivery head for mobile devices, Teleca software solutions India.
Views are personal

For Telecom Sense Today

Econmic Times, 21st October 2011, Editorial Page

Draft Telecom Policy 2011 lacks an operational framework

The writers, V Sridhar & G Krishna Kumar are wireless professionals based in Bangalore. Views are personal
The recently-announced draft Telecommunications Policy, 2011, lacks an operational framework. It has a clause on spectrum sharing, but recent DoT action to scrutinise the 3G roaming pacts of certain operators raises a fundamental question as to whether the government should put a stop to the actions of the operators who, by sharing the infrastructure and scarce spectrum, try to improve the efficiency of providing wireless broadband services.

This is not to say that operators can violate rules and regulations. However, since telecom regulations and policies are found to be trailing technology and practice for most parts, is it time to rethink about being flexible in our policy formulation and implementation?
Given the constraints in spectrum, lower disposable income of the general populace and the glaring rural-urban divide, telecom operators in the country indeed have done a tremendous job in their innovative offerings- often referred to as frugal innovation - to increase the utility of their subscribers. This is evident in the improved telecom penetration levels, low prices and the increased contribution of the telecom sector to the country's GDP: more than 3.5% currently.
By cooperatively sharing the spectrum, much like the passive tower-sharing as being practised as a norm in the industry, the operators can potentially reduce costs, optimally use the allotted spectrum and enlarge coverage areas, leading to the birth of 'secondary spectrum market' in India. As long as it increases the social welfare - i.e., profit of the operators as well as subscriber utilities - government shall not stand in the way. However, the process should be transparent so that all stakeholders, including subscribers and the government, are aware of the sharing pacts. Hence, the need of the hour is guidelines for spectrum-sharing for operators to follow.
Some CDMA operators use 800 MHz spectrum to provide 3G EVDO service. Though 800 MHz was allotted for 2G services, it is better suited for 3G services. This method of use, referred to as spectrum refarming, is not allowed in the policy. However, nobody is complaining as both the operators as well as subscribers earn positive net utility out of this initiative. Though the draft policy reiterates delinking licence (for the provisioning of services) from spectrum, appropriate interpretation and implementation is required relating to the above context.
Similarly, the recent move to cancel the licences of one of the spectrum winners of broadband wireless access (BWA) service on what seem to be minor deviations in the application process, might throw a spanner in India experimenting with leading-edge technologies in wireless broadband service (reports suggest this move is now being withdrawn).
The licensing procedure should be simple enough as long as scarce resources such as spectrum for providing the required service are priced and paid for appropriately. In a very good move, the draft policy advocates unifying different licences to just two - network service operator and service delivery operator - that should simplify the licence maze.
It is not that the government and regulator didn't track technology and market activities earlier. On some occasions, the policies were modified in tune with the market conditions. In early 2003, the government imposed access deficit charge (ADC), a cross-subsidy initiative wherein private telecom operators were required to pay to fixedline providers, mainly BSNL, for sustaining its rural wireline network. However, taking cognisance of the fact that ADC created an unfair tax burden on mobile, national and international long-distance service, and also to stop grey market operations, the Trai abolished the ADC in April 2008.

Another example is the changes brought out in the applicability of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Though NTP 1999 envisioned reimbursement of the net cost of providing universal service in rural areas from the USOF only to basic telecom operators, realising the role of mobile services in providing affordable communication services, the government enabled support for mobile services as well from the USOF through Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2006.
To sum up, though the draft Telecom Policy, 2011, recognises convergence, technology evolution and market developments, the government and the regulator should interpret the broad policy initiatives within the context of improving social welfare and act accordingly. Thanks to the much publicised 2G scam, decisions in telecom are being stalled and postponed. Micromanaging by posing bureaucratic hurdles only will stall progress of telecom in the country and might turn the once golden goose of liberalisation to a dead horse!
 

IT.biz loses fizz

Bangalore, Oct 18, DHNS: Deccan Herald

 

BangaloreIT.biz, once considered the flagship event of the state’s growing IT industry, appears little more than a pale shadow of its past.

The event, inaugurated on Tuesday in the city by former President A P J Abdul Kalam, has been marked by steady decline in numbers and little interest from the industry it claims to represent.

The number of delegates has fallen from 6,000 at its peak to mere 1,000 this year. Though the 130 exhibitors may be numerically the same as last year, most of them are small and lesser known names.

It was a far cry from the event that kicked off in 1997 to provide a platform for a fledgling industry eager to showcase its potential. The initial editions also lured several onlookers who were mesmerised by the sudden spurt of the city’s high-tech industry.

G Krishna Kumar, director-engineering at the Bangalore branch of a multinational, said the industry has lost interest in IT.biz. “Not many of the 500 people in our Bangalore office wouldn’t even know that the event is starting today,” he said. Organisers have attempted to re-brand the event to make it more appealing for the business sector, rechristening it from Bangalore IT.in and later Bangalore IT.biz. A former official of I-flex said the major draw of the event in the past was conferences.

“We attended many editions as they drew senior officials of important banks, our target customers. But as the quality of conferences deteriorated and the participation thinned, we stopped attending IT.biz,” he said. Krishna said unlike Nasscom conferences which are organised around specific issues, IT.biz remains a generic event offering little value to participants.
A Nasscom event organiser speaking on the condition of anonymity said it was unfair to compare a state government event with Nasscom conferences. “Nasscom is a member-driven organisation. It works closely with members in deciding the conference themes, agenda and speakers. As members pay hefty fee, they have high expectations, which would have be met.”

“The event organisers should improve their act before IT.biz becomes a painful annual ritual. Bangalore is India’s biggest IT brand. The industry here deserves a better organised event than IT.biz,” he said.

Telecom Policy lags practice

Economic Times , Sep 7, 2011, 01.16am IST, Editorial Page

 

By: Vsridhar & G Krishna Kumar

The DoT panel looking at various issues for the forthcoming New Telecom Policy has recommended that the country be considered as a single region — instead of the current 22 circles — a move that will spare customers roaming fee while travelling.

Roaming fees for voice calls have dropped considerably in recent years thanks to intense competition. So, the proposal may not have a significant effect.
However, what is the effect of one-nation-one-market policy on 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) services? In the case of voice roaming, the Trai regulation implemented in 2007 ensured no rental or surcharges can be levied by operators.
Trai has also regulated the maximum permissible per-minute charges for roaming calls, irrespective of terminating network and tariff plan. Moreover, multi-SIM mobiles have reduced the relevance of roaming. A user who often roams typically has two SIMs, one from an operator in the home circle and another from an operator in the roaming circle to reduce roaming charges.
With no operator holding a pan-India licence for 3G and only one operator for BWA — and assuming that the operators had a rationale and business models for picking up circles of their choice and paying the huge spectrum fee for the same in last year's auction — combining the circles for data roaming could be tricky.
A recent report says that the country has over 25 million data subscribers and about 49% of Internet users use only mobile phone for accessing the Internet.
In the initial stages, it will be the high-Arpu, post-paid subscribers in metros and category-A circles who will be the innovator segment to adopt 3G/BWA, and it is likely that the subscribers will use data roaming to a large extent.
Without a regulatory oversight, the larger operators are likely to have better bargaining power in the roaming negotiations and, hence, the smaller operators might be disadvantaged, both for originating and terminating roaming data calls.
In BWA, it is worse. The smaller Internet service providers that got the BWA spectrum are at the receiving end of pan-India unified access service providers who can leverage on the scale of their operations. As of now, data roaming charges are not regulated across the world.
EU has drawn up a three-year plan for reducing roaming tariff for data. As per the new regulation, subscribers will have to pay a maximum of 90 cents per MB of data by July 2012. The charges will go down substantially to 50 cents by July 2014.
EU has also defined ceiling charges for wholesale rates, between two operators. Some mobile operators have launched 3G services in circles without having won the spectrum for the same in the auction. Though not likely, the operator could have refarmed the existing 2G spectrum in the 900 and 1,800 MHz to offer 3G services.

This is being practised by some CDMA operators to provide high-speed data services in the 800 MHz they received for 2G services. There is consensus that the industry needs to move towards spectrum allocation independent of technology, thereby bringing in efficiency of spectrum usage. For example, earlier this year, UK's regulator Ofcom allowed refarming of existing 2G spectrum for 3G service.
Though the unified access service licence allows the operator to use any technology to provide any service including data and multimedia, legacy indicates that spectrum is associated with a type of service: 2G or 3G. Spectrum refarming explicitly disassociates spectrum from technology or service.
Another possibility is cooperative sharing of spectrum between the operators who have spectrum and those who do not. If so, even though there is no policy on spectrum-sharing between network operators, it indicates the birth of secondary spectrum market in India.
This type of sharing can occur between two spectrum holders within the same circles too. The operator that does not have the radio access infrastructure in specific geographical areas within a circle can possibly use the spectrum and the associated infrastructure of an existing operator to provide coverage that again will lead to optimal utilisation of spectrum.
These arrangements can also be construed as roaming, though not precisely. What is notable in both the above cases is that the ministry of communications and IT is yet to take a policy decision on refarming and spectrum-sharing, though it is apparently in the works at DoT to be included in the New Telecom Policy.
Though credit shall be given to the operators for taking these initiatives, without policy directives, the user is not adequately informed and even misinformed.
It is time that the much-hyped telecom policy is announced soon, with the above incorporated.

 

Take charge & go-ahead! It is your career

 

Deccan Herald,  7th Sep 2011, DH Aveneue

 

G Krishna Kumar

Polish up
It is not a perfect world where everyone gets an opportunity that matches aspirations

Requirements management, User experience, Build and release Management, Triage management are some of the roles that were never heard in the Indian software Industry say 10 to 15 years back. However, over the past few years, these niche roles have emerged in the Indian Software landscape among both the services and product companies.

These, together with the standard roles in development, testing and project management, provide engineers with several options to pursue a career in the IT Industry. The myriad of options, often adds to the confusion especially among engineers in the less than 10 years experience range.

While there are a few engineers who are aware of the value they deliver currently and how they would enhance it in the future, a vast majority of them are not sure. Salary increase appears to be the sole parameter to measure growth.

Most IT organisations have developed career paths on technical and project Management ladders to help their employees. It is to be noted that the work content in software product and services companies is similar to a great extent and there is no dearth of opportunities in both technical and managerial ladders.

In general, managerial roles are more acceptable in the Indian society. However, technical skills are always at a premium, in high demand and provide immense potential to realise value both for the individual as well as for the organisation.

Although career plan is strictly a personal initiative, there is a popular perception that it is owned by the organisation as an HR initiative. How can we expect an organisation to own the career plan for each and every employee?

It is important to understand assuming that an individual has a fair idea on the future goals, let us look at the practical aspects in realising the goals.

Spend disciplined effort
It is not a perfect world where everyone gets an opportunity that matches both the individual’s aspiration as well as business needs. In reality, it is highly likely that the current job may cater to say 50 per cent of an individual’s aspirations. This means, the rest needs to be “earned”, by spending additional disciplined effort to strengthen the areas not covered by the present job.

For example, let’s take an individual aspiring to be a Software Test Architect, while the current job is that of a manual tester. The Individual could learn/enhance programming, scripting, creating Test benches etc. Another example could be that of a developer involved in maintenance of a software product.

It is very likely that the scope of work will be limited to a few modules. However, normally, the engineer would have access to a lot of product resources that could help the engineer in gaining deeper product knowledge. In general, understanding the overall purpose of the project and seeing the big picture always help engineers appreciate their current work.

The next logical question is to find out if this knowledge can be put to good use. It is safe to assume that opportunities are aplenty in any organisation. It is a matter of interest and commitment from an individual that would open newer opportunities.

Focus on Fundamentals
Over the past few years, the Indian engineers have learnt the need for soaking into a domain in order to gain expertise. All the Domains like Wireless Telecom, Finance, Health care etc offer hundreds of sub domains that can be specialised over many years. For example, a wireless telecom engineer can be an expert in a niche sub-domain like a layer in LTE protocol stack or multimedia framework etc.

An individual could identify and gain expertise on multiple sub-domains. Each of these domains is evolving and this, not only provide an opportunity for the individuals to be abreast with the latest changes in the domain, but also, potentially contribute to the standards.

The next important area for an individual to focus on is, programming language or scripting language as the case maybe. Best programmers are always in scarcity and are equally desirable for a pure software Development project or a maintenance project. Programming languages, akin to sub-domains are an evolving area and a new programming language emerges into the arena every few years.

Importance of Mentor
It is important that the engineers are fundamentally strong in programming and design so that they can seamlessly move into new programming languages without much effort. While parents and close relatives play an extremely important role during education and early part of the job career, it is important to identify a mentor who could either be from the current organisation or from any other organisation.

The mentor can guide the individual in taking key career decisions and could even guide the individual in handling inter-personnel challenges. It is important to realise that the mentor is not the decision maker. Softer aspect like communication skill is very critical and is often ignored. It is extremely important to be clear and articulate while communicating with stake holders including customers, immediate managers and other team members.

Thinking of a solution for a complex problem is just one part, clearly articulating and obtaining buy-in from the stake holders is immensely important. It is also important not to get into an “I-know-it-all” mindset, to remain humble and be a good team player. One more important factor is the longevity of the individual in any organisation. It is fairly established that, in a growing organisation, a good performer will always have plenty of opportunity to grow rapidly.

To sum up, it is the Individual’s career which is at stake and hence more than anyone, the Individual needs to “own” the career plan. Organisations can play a supportive role with framework and policies and a personal mentor can help in key decision making.

It is imperative that the individual focuses on enhancing technical skills and there-by adding value to self as well as the organisation. Sticking to an organisation longer certainly helps. Amidst all these, it is vital to focus on softer aspects and be a genuine team player to experience true career growth.

(The writer is Director and Head of Mobile Devices Delivery, Teleca software solutions India)
 

Will mobile apps sing new tune?

Hindu Business Line,  25th July 2011, eWorld

G Krishna Kumar

Not too far in the future, HTML5 could share platform space in the mobile apps market.

Remember the frenzy created by the mobile phone game “Angry Birds”, which was first launched on Apple's mobile operating system, iOS? Not only is the game available on leading mobile platforms now, thanks to its popularity, but also, the usage of words “Angry” or “Birds” in other application names has increased manifold over the past one year, states Distimo, a company that studies the mobile applications market.

In general, every time ‘a cool application' is available on Apple's application store, the immediate response from a non-Apple smartphone or tablet user is to check whether the same application is available with the Android Market Place, OVI store or Windows Market Place.

Wouldn't it be great to see an application on all platforms at once? But before we look for answers, let's first take a quick look at the global business opportunity for mobile applications.

Is the market Big enough?

According to Gartner, globally, mobile application store revenue is projected to surpass $15.1 billion in 2011, both from end-users buying applications, and applications themselves generating advertising revenue for their developers. By 2014, the revenue is expected to touch over $58 billion.

Worldwide, mobile application store downloads are forecast to reach 17.7 billion downloads in 2011 and by the end of 2014, Gartner forecasts that over 185 billion applications will have been downloaded from mobile application stores. Free downloads are forecast to account for 81 per cent of total mobile application store downloads in 2011.

A study by Zokem, provider of mobile analytics, reveals that in smartphones, the share of application usage is overwhelming — it achieves almost six times more face time than web browsing.

In tablets, however, the difference is not so significant with 39 per cent of face time allocated to web browser and 61 per cent to applications. Studies have revealed that two-thirds of smartphone usage go into non-voice call-related activities.

With tablets gaining momentum and device users willing to pay for high-quality applications, the applications market will remain upbeat over the foreseeable future. Due to the opportunity size, developers and application stores are under pressure to create the best user experience and to provide quickest time-to-market.

Native Applications route

As of now, the traditional approach to application development for smartphones and tablet devices is to use the native Application Development route. This means applications are developed separately for iPhone, or on Google's Android platform.

Such custom-built applications utilise all the functionalities and capabilities of the device and provide excellent user experience. However, the biggest drawback is the cost involved due to extremely low reusability of software code.

Just imagine trying to develop the same application from scratch for four different platforms.

Zokem's March 2011 report indicates that email, gaming and music content are consumed more using native applications.

There are quite a few cloud-based application builders or application-creators that enable developers to create applications on multiple platforms/devices at once.

However, these app-creators don't exploit the platform-specific functionalities and are unable to match the rich user experience as compared with the native applications.

The app creator/builder market is nascent with many more trying to tap this space. This generic ‘create-once and run anywhere' is not hugely successful as yet. Is this going to change dramatically with the advent of HTML5?

HTML5

HTML5 is the fifth generation of Hyper Text Markup Language, the popular web standard. Technology industry leaders such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and hardware manufacturers support it. There is expectation that HTML5 will be the “true” multi-platform application development technology.

HTML5 would enable browser-based applications and also stand-alone applications, including off-line applications. It supports multimedia content through video and audio tag, location-based information using Geo Location APIs (application program interface) and can also access the native platform.

With browser being the core of HTML5, applications can work on “any” platform or device, including PC, smartphone or tablet, with minimal device-specific changes for stand-alone applications. That would mean a huge cost saving, compared with the native applications.

Currently, Flash is the undisputed leader for multimedia support on browsers. However, the HTML5 ecosystem is gaining momentum.

For example, WebM, an open source project, has been created to provide rich multimedia user experience on the Web. YouTube supports WebM in addition to its existing formats as part of its HTML5 experiment. Among other aspects, WebM is aimed at supporting low computational footprint to enable playback on hand-held devices.

HTML5 would be welcomed by publishing companies. Financial Times, for instance, recently announced an HTML5-based application to attract digital subscribers.

Though, there are not many mobile applications based on it as yet, HTML5 is an evolving technology. McKinsey estimates that more than 50 per cent of all mobile applications will switch to HTML5 within three to five years.

HTML5 would be a clear winner in the web/cloud intensive mobile application space, while native applications would lead the computation-intensive contexts. Essentially, HTML5 and native applications are poised to co-exist over the foreseeable future!

The author is Director – Engineering, Teleca Software Solutions India. Views are personal.

Mobile commerce awaits a rural destiny in India

Deccan Herald , 20th Jul 2011, Cyber Space

 

G Krishna Kumar

How do you like the idea of paying bus fare by just flashing your mobile phone before the Conductor? The mobile phone, using a technology called Near field communication (NFC), communicates with a device in the bus and the amount is debited from your bank account.

NFC is gaining popularity across the world and is set to revolutionise mobile commerce. Though NFC is in nascent stages in India, it may hold the key to make mobile commerce popular in the country.

Early this year Bharti Airtel launched prepaid cash cards in India, the Airtel Money service. The service, which allows customers to use their mobile phones to make payments, is now available in Gurgaon and Airtel plans to launch it across the country.

Mobile commerce is quite popular in the West and research shows that 91 per cent of UK consumers use it. But in India it is yet to take off. Debit cards, which the mobile money can potentially replace, are easier to carry and help you draw cash. Mobile money providers typically charge transaction and subscription fee and face the challenging task of ensuring universal acceptability of their ‘money’. The law also limits the amount of money which can be transacted through mobiles.

A recent Forrester report expects global m-commerce to reach $31 billion by 2016. For that to happen rural areas may have to step in, in a big way.
Approximately 72 per cent of the world’s population is estimated to be “unbanked”. The mobile phone, which is becoming ubiquitous even in the developing countries, offers an excellent platform to take banking to them. Studies suggest that an increase in the banked population has a direct correlation to increased GDP and reduced poverty.

Kenya has emerged as a leader in mobile banking system with M-PESA, which was launched in 2007 by Safaricom, a mobile Operator. M-PESA is an SMS based, branch-less system that allows individuals to deposit, send and withdraw money using their mobile phone. M-PESA has over 14 Million customers, representing 60 per cent of the adult population.

Pakistan’s Easy Paisa, Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank’s Mobile money are among other initiatives trying to replicate M-PESA’s success.

In India, regulators like RBI and TRAI, several banks, mobile service providers and phone makers are joining hands to take m-commerce to the “unbanked” population.

Eko, a mobile banking technology provider, has tied up with SBI and ICICI banks. It helps people create a bank account and perform basic transactions at local Kirana shops.

Idea Cellular has a similar partnership with Axis Bank. Subscribers would be able to open ‘No-frills savings bank accounts’ at Idea’s retail outlets and avail basic banking services such as cash deposit, withdrawal and transfer. Idea is currently offering the remittance facility in the Dharavi-Allahabad corridor. There have been similar initiatives from Vodafone and Bharti Airtel as well.

Fifty-two per cent of India’s adult population does not have access to any form of formal financial services. With the rising tele-density there is good potential for business.

According to the latest BCG report, the projected fee-based revenue from mobile commerce could exceed $4.5 billion by 2015 in India. This revenue would be shared by banks, mobile service providers and device manufacturers.

A major bottle-neck in mobile commerce in rural areas lies in meeting the Know-your-customer (KYC) norms. Kenya’s National ID system, eliminated the need for KYC norms and played a key role in M-PESA’s success. That is precisely the role India’s Aadhar project is planning to play. If it succeeds, mobile commerce would get a big boost. But to really make it happen banks and telcos have to build awareness among people by promoting it aggressively.

(The writer is Director-Engineering at Teleca Software Solutions India.
Views expressed are personal)