Future of Mobile Virtual Players is Bright in India, Provided Regulations at Place

In my last article I explained how Indian ventures via 'PSEUDO-MVNO' route failed to sustain. But in the changed situation in the telecom sector, which includes less competition, exit of most new operators, power to incumbents, standardized tariff regime, expansion of 3G coverage & hence more uptake, upcoming 4G based mobile broadband, agressive growth of mobile internet in urban areas, interest in mobile internet in rural areas, gross difference between rural & urban teledensity and establishment of a new government believing in corporate work culture; the market can find a sustainable & profitable niché for mobile virtural network operators.

There are few steps are needed to boost this never-properly-explored segment of Indian telecom.

A Proper Rules & Regulations for MVNO:

Government of India is yet come up with a proper policy for MVNO. Once it comes, several companies from domestic & overseas market may be interested to enter in India via MVNO. But nobody knows when the final outcome would come in.

MVNO in India #1: 'Not Truly' MVNO Failed in Most Cases

Though MVNO is not legally approved in India, there are several trials of MVNO-like or Pesudo-MVNO operations. World’s one of the most popular MVNO, UK-based Virgin Mobile tied up with Tata Docomo, the telecom arm of legendary Tata Group. Virgin Mobile was selling CDMA & GSM voice and CDMA data over dongles; concentrates on GSM only now – offers voice & 2G internet.

Tata Docomo has another tie up with Future Group – Talk24 Mobile (GSM). It is more like a royalty program for Future’s retail customers. We can’t say it’s flop as no confirmed data available.

My Expectation from Telecom Policy 2012

The new telecom policy for India which is in discuss from 2011, is yet to deliver. Hopefully it may turn into a reality in 2012.

What I like to see from Telecom policy 2012:

1. Reduction in call termination charge to 10p/min or less, and ultimately zero call termination charge.
2. Permission of VoIP - to promote telephony over LTE data services.
3. Official policy for MVNO - to clear the road for foriegn players.
4. Proper spectrum policy
5. Importance to CDMA spectrum vacation
6. To make EVDO legal
7. To promote BYOD (bring your own device) policy among operators.
8. One Country, One Circle - abolishment of roaming. If not possible, break the 22 circles into zonal circles like North, East, West, South & North East.