How white label brands can increase the ARPU for mobile operators

Student name: Mr Saurabh Saha
Guide: Dr Sanpa Narula
Year of completion: 2011
Host Organisation: Atchik- Realtime
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Anil Gupta

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Abstract: This project is carried out in the Marketing department of Atchik-Realtime. The project objectives were to“How white label brands can increase the ARPU for mobile operators”. The project was divided in two parts. First part consisted of studying the history of the telecom sector in India and the present scenario in the telecom sector. The second part of the project involved meeting the executives from different telecom companies.

The direct interview method, questionnaire method was used to conduct the project. Direct interview was followed with the executives of the telecom companies. The meetings helped to understand the problems faced by the telecom companies. Questionnaire was given to college going students to know about their opinion about the value added services.

The study revealed that the telecom companies were facing the problem of falling Average revenue per user (ARPU) due to the low call rates, low customer loyalty and high competition. Mobile VAS currently accounts for just 9 percent of the telecom company’s revenue in India and has tremendous potential for growth with the mobile subscriber base growing at a scorching pace. Operators are facing cutthroat competition and with the call rates in India being one of the cheapest in the world, the margins are very low. Therefore they are looking at VAS as the next wave for growth. With the introduction of 3G the VAS will benefited. White label brands like Atchik-Realtime have a great opportunity in this scenario. Atchik-Realtime provides a fully featured range of mobile communities and entertainment services, enhancing and boosting mobile interactions. Atchik conducts different campaigns in equal intervals to increase the activity among the members. This increases the subscribers and they are hooked to the network which increases the revenue for the telecom companies. In India a substantial part (around 60%) of the total VAS revenue goes into the kitty of the service providers, the development of this segment is likely to offer them an opportunity to support their falling ARPU. The increasing acceptance and usage of mobile commerce services is also likely to boost the VAS segment. Mobile banking is likely to emerge as a major growth driver in the near future.