MUMBAI: Undoubtedly music is affecting mass communication and Airtel CEO – Data & Digital, N Rajaram emphasised just that. In one of the sessions at Nokia Music Connects 2013; Nokia Director and Operator Accounts Nikhil Mathur questioned Rajaram on how music – at the current time – is affecting mass communication. To which Rajaram replied: “The days of VAS are broadly over and most of the operators have shifted their interest to data consumption. It is an unusual type of business situation for many people.”
However, Rajaram claims that the next two to three years will be vital, and will see India move into the digital world.
According to Rajaram, the only element that operators will be perturbed by is how they can increase the number of data users and usage, and how that will improve revenue for service providers. With the increase of smartphone users, operators are now looking to increase content available to these consumers.
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The challenge however, lies in the fact that a majority of Indian consumers are prepaid users, which is why a very low percentage of these indulge in high data packs. This is where the Indian model needs to dramatically change, he added. Rajaram also made it clear that it is very important for services to be simplified.
A major development in this area could come from operators understanding the buying capacity of their consumers. Expounding how music is evolving in India Rajaram said: “Right now the role of music is evolving in India and consumers are open to more than just Bollywood. Creating niche content is a must, because right now consumers are capable of discovering that niche content.”
Rajaram further highlighted some of the statistics which on the usage of video on phones. The recent Re 1 for videos model, launched by Airtel received an overwhelming response. An in-depth look into the trend showed that about 75 per cent of viewers used feature phones and not smart phones. In terms of personal entertainment, music videos accumulate the highest data being streamed on personal devices like cell phones and laptops. However, what cannot be differentiated is whether the videos are being viewed for the visuals or the music.
