GPRS: Advantage BPL?

It was the most-awaited launch for the last one year. Nobody knew why BPL
Mobile was shying away from launching its GPRS services, having enabled its
network as early as August 2001. It was the second mobile operator to make a
GPRS call, with China Telecom overtaking BPL Mobile by just one day to become
the first GPRS service provider in Asia. The company claims it deferred the
launch for almost a year, waiting for the GPRS handsets to be available in a
significant quantity.

And it finally crossed the rubicon in January, by becoming
the first ever GPRS operator in the country.

BPL Mobile didn’t spring up any surprises during the launch of its
services. It has taken a cue from other 20-odd GPRS operators, worldwide, and
stuck to the tried-and-tested formula–a flat subscription fee of Rs 750 per
month. The activation fee of Rs 1,200 will be waived as an introductory offer
for the first two months.

Oddly enough, BPL Mobile’s sales pitch is that of always-on connectivity to
the Internet by just plugging-in the mobile phone into the home PC, laptop or
PDA. The mobile operator has consciously downplayed Net access through mobile
phones itself, perhaps bearing in mind the plight of the much-hyped WAP.

As expected, BPL is gunning for the enterprise-user market. It will provide
corporate intranet access for executives on the move, providing a secure access
to corporate main servers and mailing systems. BPL Mobile is also the first
network in the country to become a part of Microsoft’s Pocket PC 2002 early
access program, which will make it a testbed for the latter’s application
designed for mobile devices in India. This will enable BPL to offer value-added
services supported by compelling content and applications.

"Technology and services are based on the genuine customer demand, not
the technology way," Girish Rangan, CEO, BPL Mobile, said during the
launch. But is there any business case for GPRS in India, which is predominantly
a voice market now? Taking into account the dismal PC and handheld devices
penetration in the country, one will have every reason to believe that BPL took
the leap to demonstrate its technology leadership. The fact that even BPL Mobile
does not expect an overwhelming response is reflected in its target subscriber
base–a modest 10,000 in the first phase.

A GPRS network means a sunk cost of Rs 20 crore. So any operator going in for
this kind of a network will have to target quick returns or adopt competitive
positions. Peer pressure will ensure that Orange and Bharti will have to follow
suit in Mumbai. Orange has already announced plans to build a GPRS network.
Since GPRS largely involves software upgrades, it takes only 4-5 weeks to get
the network in place. Mumbai, where the battle between operators is most fierce,
will soon see GPRS networks sprout in the coming months. But the question is:
how many people will pay Rs 750 per month just to process data on their mobile
phones? Watch this space.

MT Jeevan