Thakur
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Indian mobile operators, in
their attempts to get their low-paying
consumers to use more high-
margin data , have over the past
year been breaking up the web
into chunks to sell piece-by-piece to
their consumers. So a wireless user
might pay a fee to access YouTube or
other video services, or have a
special price just to use Facebook or
Whatsapp.
Those who fear that this sort of thing
might hand ever-greater power to
large internet firms like Facebook
and Google that can afford to make
deals would call it a worrisome
development. (Among those who
presumably don’t like it are the
advocates of net neutrality in the
US.) Indian mobile operators
would probably just call it
“unbundling.”
The latest offer comes from Tata
Docomo, a middling operator by the
number of its users. This week,
the company announced “YouTube
recharge,” a way for pay-as-you-go
subscribers with 3G plans to top up
their data packages for a few rupees
—but only for YouTube videos and
live TV from a company called
Apalya.
For Rs 9 (15 US cents), subscribers
can watch 100 megabytes (MB) of
video—anything between one and 10
videos, depending on the length and
quality—with 24 hours. For Rs 19,
subscribers get 150 MB and three
days, and a Rs 39 plan offer 300 MB
over a week.
Other operators have tried similar
ideas. Airtel, an multinational telco
based in India, offers online video
for Rs 1. Uninor, owned by the
Norwegian telco Telenor, earlier this
year started offering customers
access to Facebook or WhatsApp on a
daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
And it isn’t just the Indian market
that is unbundling mobile
broadband. In Africa,
Airtel instituted a timed-
access program that offers a variety
of services, such as a two-hour pass
to get online or access to Facebook
only. MTN, a South African telco,
launched a $44 smartphone that
comes with a limited amount of free
access to social networks.
The thinking behind all these moves
is two-fold: First, new internet users
in the poor world regularly cite
Facebook, WhatsApp, and
entertainment as their reasons for
getting smartphones. Mobile
operators see it as simply
giving subscribers what they want at
prices they will find attractive.
Second, it is also a more efficient
way of distributing content and
increasing revenue. In places where
it is possible to bypass big cable
companies and simply get the whole
suite of available channels for a
fixed price via small, local cable
providers, as in India, that tends
to work out cheaper for the
consumer. But if cable companies
can persuade subscribers that it is
better and cheaper for them to get a
basic package and then add on extra
channels for a fee—though a zero to
low marginal cost to the provider—
that’s a much better deal for the
companies. Mobile broadband in the
poor world is treading the same
Indian mobile operators are now charging users like cable companies, one site at a time – Quartz
their attempts to get their low-paying
consumers to use more high-
margin data , have over the past
year been breaking up the web
into chunks to sell piece-by-piece to
their consumers. So a wireless user
might pay a fee to access YouTube or
other video services, or have a
special price just to use Facebook or
Whatsapp.
Those who fear that this sort of thing
might hand ever-greater power to
large internet firms like Facebook
and Google that can afford to make
deals would call it a worrisome
development. (Among those who
presumably don’t like it are the
advocates of net neutrality in the
US.) Indian mobile operators
would probably just call it
“unbundling.”
The latest offer comes from Tata
Docomo, a middling operator by the
number of its users. This week,
the company announced “YouTube
recharge,” a way for pay-as-you-go
subscribers with 3G plans to top up
their data packages for a few rupees
—but only for YouTube videos and
live TV from a company called
Apalya.
For Rs 9 (15 US cents), subscribers
can watch 100 megabytes (MB) of
video—anything between one and 10
videos, depending on the length and
quality—with 24 hours. For Rs 19,
subscribers get 150 MB and three
days, and a Rs 39 plan offer 300 MB
over a week.
Other operators have tried similar
ideas. Airtel, an multinational telco
based in India, offers online video
for Rs 1. Uninor, owned by the
Norwegian telco Telenor, earlier this
year started offering customers
access to Facebook or WhatsApp on a
daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
And it isn’t just the Indian market
that is unbundling mobile
broadband. In Africa,
Airtel instituted a timed-
access program that offers a variety
of services, such as a two-hour pass
to get online or access to Facebook
only. MTN, a South African telco,
launched a $44 smartphone that
comes with a limited amount of free
access to social networks.
The thinking behind all these moves
is two-fold: First, new internet users
in the poor world regularly cite
Facebook, WhatsApp, and
entertainment as their reasons for
getting smartphones. Mobile
operators see it as simply
giving subscribers what they want at
prices they will find attractive.
Second, it is also a more efficient
way of distributing content and
increasing revenue. In places where
it is possible to bypass big cable
companies and simply get the whole
suite of available channels for a
fixed price via small, local cable
providers, as in India, that tends
to work out cheaper for the
consumer. But if cable companies
can persuade subscribers that it is
better and cheaper for them to get a
basic package and then add on extra
channels for a fee—though a zero to
low marginal cost to the provider—
that’s a much better deal for the
companies. Mobile broadband in the
poor world is treading the same
Indian mobile operators are now charging users like cable companies, one site at a time – Quartz
