'India is important for our application development program'

What is your Developer Partner Program all about?



India is an extremely important market for Aepona, as it is one of the

fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world. India is renowned

globally for world-class software development. There is a large and vibrant

community of highly skilled software developers throughout the country. This

talent pool is creating new applications and services that enable telecom

operators to realize new revenue sources and enhance customer loyalty. Aepona's

technology allows these applications to be created in a common, standards-based

manner, meaning that they can be deployed across different types of network

including fixed and mobile networks or circuit-switched and IP networks, without

having to be re-written for each situation. The aim of our Developer Partner

Program is to reach out to these developers and provide them with the resources,

tools, and support that they need to create compelling new services for our

existing and prospective customers.

What are the deals that you have in your kitty right now, and what are all

in the pipeline?



In the next two quarters, Airtel will formally announce the partnership. We

are also talking to all the other service providers like Vodafone Essar and Idea

Cellular, and they have shown keen interests.

What about the focus on other parts of Asia?



We are not very active in other SAARC countries. We are concentrating our

resources on areas that are growing fast. Since Asia is a huge continent, we

like to focus on specific areas.

Would you like to develop applications and then sell it to operators, or

you want operators to develop their own applications?



Well, we don't have any preference as such. We would like to go by our

customers' demand. The main thing that we sell is the enabling technology, and

the capacity of our technology. But we are very happy to be prime contractor for

these applications. However, we don't have any preference for being a technology

provider or application provider; we can do either one of these two or both,

which depends on customers' requirements.

How has your experience been since you started your business in September

last year?



It's been very successful and our contract with Airtel was a major milestone

for us. But, I think more important for us is that we have Appium technology

with us now. This deal is fundamental to our plan for developing

application-partnering system.

What are the challenges you have faced while operating in India?



One of the biggest challenges is the sheer size of the Indian market. The

scale of operations is huge in terms of the growth, number of people, and the

size of the operators we are dealing with. We address these challenges through

partnerships. So, we are partnering with Nokia Siemens, and IBM, which is very

important for us. IBM is the main systems integrator for us. And, Nokia Siemens

is the main network provider and Aepona is the main technology provider for this

application gateway.

What are the plans for the applications developed in India? Do you plan to

take them to other countries as well?



It is in our interest to promote application development, and then promote

their application to other key markets like America and Europe.

What are your R&D plans for India? Do you intend to setup a base in

India?



No, we don't have R&D in India. We have R&D in Spain, Sweden, and

Ukraine. And, we don't see any change in this in the near future. However, we do

plan to have more people in sales, marketing, and technical support. As our

business grows here, we will add our resources, focusing on customer support and

services.

Your customers are operators. So, do you think it is a viable model to

focus just on 15-16 customers? What is the total size of the market for your

product in India, and who are your competitors?



We have a global operation with some 700-800 operators globally. So, that's

viable. We can't just focus on India; we need to work globally. I can't predict

the market size in India as of now, but I think we have a billion dollar global

market. Our competitors would be Eriksson and Alcatel on the network capability

providers' front.

What are the applications that you are focusing on currently?



Currently our focus is on the enterprise and small business applications,

like virtual PBX, which is making your mobile phone an extension of your PBX of

your office.

Do you face any regulatory issues in this particular service?



No such issues to my knowledge. It's like installing private PBX and

outsourcing your PBX to a virtual service that an operator provides.

Nilabh Jha



nilabhj@cybermedia.co.in