(vas) in bangladesh

I
OPPORTUNITY
AND OUTLOOK ANALYSIS FOR MOBILE
.VALUE ADDED SERVICE (VAS) IN BANGLADESH
MD. TOF AZZAL HOSSAIN
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DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL & PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
DHAKA-lOOO, BANGLADESH
September 2008
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
The thesis titled "OPPORTUNITY
AND OUTLOOK ANALYSIS FOR MOBILE VALUE
ADDED SERVICE (VAS) IN BANGLADESH"
submitted by Md. Tofazzal Hossain, Roll
No. 040308124P, Session - April 2003 has been accepted as satisfactory in partial fulfilhnent
of the requirements for the degree of Master of Advanced Engineering
Management on
September 23, 2008.
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
~
L
Dr. Nafis Ahmad
Chairman
Assistant Professor
(Supervisor)
Department ofIPE, BUET, Dhaka
-
¥
Member
2. Dr. M. Ahsan Akhter Hasin
Professor & Head
Department ofIPE, BUET, Dhaka
Member
3. Dr. Abdullahil Azcern
Associate Professor
Department ofIPE, BUET, Dhaka
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._" - ...•
CANDIDATE'S DECLARA nON
It is hereby declared that this thesis or any part of this has not been submitted elsewhere for
the award of any degree or diploma.
Md. Tofazzal Hossain
-iii-
,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
r acknowledge my profound indebtedness and express sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Nafis Ahmad, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial & Production Engineering (lPE),
DUET, Dhaka He provided proper guidance, supervision and valuable suggestions at all
stages to carry out this research work. I am proud to have him as my supervisor for Master's
thesis.
I also express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. M. Ahsan Akhter Rasin, Professor & Head,
Department of IPE, 8UET and Dr. Abdullahil Azeem, Associate Professor, Department of
IPE, BUET for their kind support in this work.
I would also like to thank Strategic Planning team of Banglalink Marketing department for
providing necessary information and data for the analysis part army project.
Finally, I wish to express my heartiest gratitude to my respected teachers at the Department
of Industrial & Production Engineering (IPE), BUET and to all my colleagues, friends and
family members who helped me directly or indirectly in this work.
Md. Tofaaal
Hossain
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,
ABSTRACT
The value added service (VAS) in telecommlmications
services
Of,
industry is defmed as nOll-core
in short, all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions.
At
present, mobile phone service providers arc playing a vital role in the telecommunication
services in Bangladesh which is ultimately helping in total development of the country, Total
six operators are in service now and more than 40 million subscribers are using this service,
Mobile phones today have moved beyond their fundamental role of communications
and
have graduated to become an extension of the persona of the user. Users buy mobile phones
not just to be in touch, but 10 express themselves, their attitude, feelings and interests. "Ibus,
there exists a vilst world beyond voice thaI needs to be explored and lapped and the entire
cellular industry is heading towards it to provide innovative options to their customers.
Brief discussion has been done on the different value Added Service (V AS) available in
current Bangladesh mobile market and their key features. The discussion continued to VAS
classification
in different
perspective,
factors affecting
VAS,
VAS
Business
Model,
challenges to VAS growth etc.
In the VAS industry, though the mam information passes between mobile operators and
subscribers, another third party called Content Provider plays an important role in this field.
As a result, Content Provider becomes part and parcel of mobile VAS industry. The
opportunities
and challenges
for the content providers
or new entrepreneur
have been
described in brief.
The pwpose or (his study is to measure the usage and growth pattern of VAS in Bangladesh.
A survey is carried out to get customer perception about different Value Added Service and
its usage pattern from the year 2003 to 2007. Considering (he growth pattern, the VAS
grO\"th rate has been determined using lcast square method for the next five years. This study
explains that mobile VAS market has achieved exceptional growth from 2005-2006.
CONTENTS
Certificate
of Approval
"
Candidate's Declaration
m
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Contents
"
List of Tables
"
List of Figures
CHAPTER 1:
xiii
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Overview
1
1.2
Objectives
3
13
Methodology
3
CHAPTER 2:
VALUE ADDEDSERVICE
2.1
VAS Definition
4
2.2
Mobile VAS in Bangladesh
4
2.2.1
Short Message Service (8M3)
4
2.2.2
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
6
2.2.3
Voice Message Service (VMS)
6
2.2.4
Conference Call
4
2.2.5
Ringtone
8
2.2.6
Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBn
8
2.2.7
Missed Call Alert (MeA)
9
2.2.8
Voice Portal
9
2.2.9
Voice-Chatting
9
2.2.10
Song Dedication
10
2.2.11
Music Stations
10
2.2.12
Pay For Me
10
2.2.13
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
10
2.2.14
Enhanwd Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
12
2.2.15
Tclemedicine
12
2.2.16
Cellbazar
13
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2.2.17
Call Block
13
2.2.18
NamazlIftar/Sehri Alert
13
2.2,19
Stock Infonnalion
13
CHAPTER
3:
FACTORS
AFFECTING
VAS
3.1
Introduction
3.2
Classification
3.2.1
Entertainment VAS
15
3.2.2
Info VAS
15
3.2.3
M-Commerce
15
3.3
Revenue Generation
3.3.1
Perceived Value
16
3.3.2
Practical value
16
3.4
The Role of VAS
16
3.5
Market cfforts driving VAS
17
3.5.1
Focus on movies and music
17
3.5.2
SMS contests
17
3,5.3
FMRadio
17
3.6
Environmenlal
3.6.1
Booming economy
18
3.6.2
Increasing comfort levels with basic mobility services
18
3.6.3
Personalization ofllie digital worid and digital devices
18
3.6.4
Reduction in call rates
19
CHAPTER 4:
15
of Mobile VAS by Nature
Factors of Mobile VAS
faclors driving VAS
VAS BUSINESS
15
16
18
MODEL
4.1
Introduction
20
4.2
Content Enablers
21
4.2.1
Content Portals/ Aggregators/Developers
21
4.2.2
Third Party Copy Right Owner
21
4.2.3
Traditional Media Companies
21
4.3
Technology Enablers
22
4.3.1
Short Code Provider
22
4.3.2
Technology PartncrlPlatform Enabler
22
4.4
Re"cnuc Sharing in VAS
22
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4.4.1
Revenue sharing arrangement in VAS
22
4.4.2
Revenue sharing in enterprise solution services
23
4.5
VASPlatforms
23
4.5.1
DatafText Platform
24
4.5.2
Voiee Platform
24
4.6
Predicting the EmergingBusinessModel
24
4.7
Managerial Implications
25
CHAPTER 5:
CHALLENGES TO VAS GROWTH
5.1
Focusonly on youth and entertainment
26
5.2
Licenseof Content Provider
26
5.3
Piracy of Contcnt
26
5.4
Lack of Infrastructure
27
5.5
Preferencefor low feature handsets
27
5.6
Highcost to the end user
27
5.7
Absenceof utility services
28
5.8
Transparency in revenuesharing
28
5.9
UnderdevelopedWAPmarket
28
5.10
Spam
29
CHAPTER 6:
SURVEYON VALUEADDEDSERVICE
6.1
What is Survey
30
6.2
How to Plan a Survey
31
6.3
How to CollectSurveyData
32
6.4
Judging thc Quality of Surveys
33
6.5
Designinga Questionnaire
34
6.6
What is a Margin of Error
34
6.7
Snrvcyon VAS
37
6.8
Rl'Spondents'Infonnation
37
6.9
Qucstionson VAS
41
CHAPTER 7:
STATISTICALANALYSISOF VAS GROWTH
7.1
Introduction of Forecasting
63
7.2
Objectivesof Forecasting
63
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(I),
7.3
Task of Forecasting
64
7.'
Type ofForecllsting
64
7.4.1
Quantitative Forecasting
64
7.4.2
Qualitative Forecasting
65
7.5
Casual Forecasting
65
7.'
7.7
Mobile Subscriber
7.8
Mobile VAS Market Growth Forecasting
71
7.8.1
Using total subscriber growth trend
71
7.8.2
Using VAS usage trend
73
7.'
Analysis of Customer
7.10
Margin of Error in Survey and Analysis
Current
CHAPTERS:
Model
Growth Forecasting
VAS Market Size
67
69
perception
on VAS usage
75
77
OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTENT PROVIDERS
8.1
Introduction
79
8.2
Content Providers
8.3
Service Providers
(SP)
79
8.4
Present Status ofep and SP in Bangladesh
8.5
Licensing ofep/Sp
7'
80
8.'
8.7
Opportunities
80
8.7.1
The Influence of IP
80
8.7.2
The Influence of Soft-Switch Technology
81
8.7.3
The Influence of 3G Technology
82
8.7.4
The Inl1uerrce of Terminal Technolob'Y
83
8.8
Main Challenges
83
8.8.1
Download Criteria
83
8.8.2
Combine sources for subscriber data
83
8.8.3
Integrated marketing campaigns
83
8.'
Payment
84
8.10
M-Advertising
84
8.10.1
End-User perception
85
8.10.2
Sell advertising space to advertisers
85
79
(CP)
for CP
Technical Environment
80
or VAS
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CHAPTER 9:
VAS MARKETING AND RELATED POLlCY ISSUES
9.1
Market definition
86
9.2
The product market
86
9.3
Tbe geographicmarket
87
9.4
Barriers to Entry
87
9.5
Market power and dominance
88
9.6
Market (lowerdefined
89
9.7
Significantmarket power
90
9.8
Market dominance
90
9.9
Essentialfacilities
91
9.10
The Rationalefor CompetitionPolicy
92
9.1l
Imperfectcompetition
92
9.12
Monopoly
92
9.13
Flexibility
93
9.14
The Transition from Monopolyto Competition
94
9.15
The Cross-subsidies
94
9.16
Customerinertia
95
CHAPTER 10:
VAS COMING IN FUTURE
10.1
M-Commeree
96
10.1.1
Mobile Banking (Remittance disbursement)
96
10.2
MobileTV
98
CHAPTER 11:
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
11.1
Conclusion
100
11.2
Recommendation
101
REFERENCES
102
ANNEXURE-A
SurveyQuestionnaireSample
. 103
LIST OF TABLE
Table4.1
List of Short Code Providers
22
Table6.1
Respondents' GenderGroup
37
Table6.2
Respondents'Age Group
38
Table6.3
Respondents' SEC
38
Table6.4
Respondents'RespondentsResidentialArea
39
Table6.5
Respondents'MonthlyIncome(TK.)
40
Table6.6
Respondents' Startingof Mobileusage
40
Table6.7
What is the main benefitofSMS?
41
Table6.8
Which of the followingservicescan be availedvia SMS?
42
Table 6.9
How many SMSdo you sendper month?
43
Table 6.10
What is the maInbenelit ofMMS?
43
Table 6.11
How many MMS do you sendper month?
44
Table 6.12
What is the main benefitof VMS?
45
Table 6.13
How many VMS do you sendper month?
46
Table 6.14
Howoften do you changeyourCall Back Tone per year?
46
Table 6.15
How often do you changeyour RingTone per year?
47
Table 6.16
How often do you change/purchaseWallpaperon your mobile per year? .
48
Table 6,17
How often do you doVl'll1oad/purchase
mobile games per year
49
Table 6.18
How often do you check yourhoroscopeusing mobile phone per month
49
Table 6.19
How often do you take news serviceusing mobile phone per month?
50
Table 6.20
Howoften do you downloadrecipe using mobile phone per month?
51
Table 6.21
Howoften do you doVl'll1oadjokes
usIng mobilephone per month?
51
Table 6.22
Howollen do you send favouritesong/your recorded voice to someone?
52
Table 6.23
Howollen do you use MobileInternetper month?
53
Table 6,24
What is your opinionabout tariff of Internet using Mobile phone?
54
Table 6,25
What is your opinionabout tarilTof SMSIMMSIYMS?
54
Table 6.26
What is your opinionabout tariff ofInfolEntertainmentVAS?
55
Table 6.27
Have you activatedyour MCA?
55
Table 6.28
Do you know that you can get 24 hours tcle-medicineservice using mobile?
56
Table 6.29
How often do you take tele-medicineservice?
57
Table 6.30
How many Conferencecall do youmake per month?
57
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Table 6.31
How many people can talk in conrerence call?
58
Table 6.32
What is the main benefit of having International Roaming?
59
Table 6.33
How often you take International Roaming service per year?
59
Table 6.34
How often do you send Email (SMS email) using per month?
60
Table 6.35
Arc you using mobile handset having GPRSIEDGE feature?
61
Table 6.36
What are the other VAS do you want in future?
62
Table 7.1
Mobile Subscriber Growth
67
Table 7.2
Different values to calculate a and b
68
Table 7.3
Mobile subscriber forecasting
69
Table 7.4
VAS :Market size
69
Table 7.5
SMS usage per month
70
Table 7.6
Average 3MS usage per month
70
Table 7.7
Cost of SM3 usage
70
Table 7.8
VAS Market Size caiculation
71
Table 7.9
VAS Market Size using total subscriber growth trend
71
Table 7.10
Different values to calculate a and b
72
Table 7.11
VAS Market Size Forecasting using total subscriber growth trend
73
Table 7.12
VAS Usage cos! for sample size
73
Tahle7.13
Different values to calculate a and b
73
TabJe7.14
VAS Market Size Forecasting using VAS usage trend
75
Table 7.15
Comparison of VAS market forecasting between two approaches
75
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LIST OF FlGURES
Figure 2.1
Typical diagram showing SMS flow
figure 4.1
VAS Ecosystem
20
Figure 6, I
Respondents' Gender Group
37
Figure 6.2
Respondents' Age Group
38
Figure 6.3
Respondents' SEC
39
Figure 6.4
Respondents' Respondents Residential Area
39
Fib'llre 6.5
Respondents' Monthly Income (TK.)
40
Figure 6.6
Respondents' Starting ofMobi1e usage
40
Figure 6.7
What is the main benefit ofSMS?
41
Figure 6.8
Which oflhe following services can be availed via SMS?
42
Figure 6.9
How many SMS do you send per month?,
43
figure 6.10
What is the main benefit ofMMS?
44
Figure 6.11
How many MMS do you send per month?
44
Figure 6. 12
What is the main benefit of VMS?
45
Figure 6.13
How many VMS do you send per month?
46
Figure 6.14
How often do you change your Call Back Tone per year?
47,
Figure 6.15
How often do you change your Ring Tone per year?
47
Figure 6.16
How often do you change/purchase Wallpaper on your mobile per year?
48
Figure 6.17
How often do you download/purchase mobile games per year
49
Figure 6.18
How often do you check your horoscope using mobile phone per month
49
Figure 6.19
How often do you take news service using mobile phone per month?
50
Figure 6,20
How often do you download recipe using mobile phone per month?
51
Figure 6.21
How often do you download jokes using mobile phone per month?
52
Figure 6.22
How often do you send favourite song I>'our recorded voice to someone?
52
Figure 6.23
How often do you use Mobile Internet per month?
53
Figure 6.24
What is your opinion ubout tariff of Internet using Mobile phone?
54
Fib'llre 6.25
What is your opinion about tariff of SMSIMMSIVMS?
54
Figure 6.26
What is your opinion about tarifT ofInfoiEntertainment
Figure 6.27
Have you activated your MCA?
56
Figure 6.28
Do you know that you can get 24 hours tele-medicine service using mobile?
56
Figure 6.29
How often do you take tele-medicine service?
57
- XllI -
5
VAS?
55
Figure 6.30
How many Conference call do yon make per month?
58
Figure 6.31
How many people can talk in conference call?
58
Figure 6.32
What is the main benefit of having International Roaming?
59
Figure 6.33
How often you take International Roaming service per year?
60
Figure 6.34
How ofien do you send Email (SMS email) using per month?
60
Figure 6.35
Arc you using mobile handset having GPRSIEDGE feature?
61
Figure 6.36
What are the other VAS do you want in future?
62
Figure 7.1
Mobile Subscriber Growth
67
Figure 7.2
VAS Markel size
69
Figure 7.3
VAS Market size trend
71
Figure 7.4
VAS Usage cost for sample size
73
Figure 8.1
Architecture of providing VAS in the next generation packet-based network
81
Figure 10.1
Remittance Channel market share
97
Figure 10.2
Overseas Remittance flow
97
Figure 10.3
Mobile TV schematic diagram
99
-XIV-
'CHAPTER!
INTRODUCTION
1.1
OVERVIEW
The invention of Telecommunication
was in a view to transfer voice from one place to
other place. The initial technology was wire based and one point-to-point
physical
-connectivity was required during conversation. When mobile phone came into scenario,
revolution occurred in telecommunication
industry. People were very much happy with
the mobility and being connected round the clock. Mobile communication was not limited
to only voice, rather, the se<:ondgeneration mobile technology (2G) started offering some
extra service. The Value Added Service (VAS) is defmed as the services which are
. available in mobile industry in addition to basic voice service.
Recent research by IMRB International and ITV development reports shows that VAS is
going to play the main role in worldwide mobile industry. Mobile phones today have
moved beyond their fundamental role of communications and have graduated to become
,
an extension of the persona of the user. Users buy mobile phones not just to be in touch,
but to express themselves, their attItude, feelings and interests. Thus, there cxists a vast
world beyond voice that needs to be explored and tapped and the entire cellular industry
is heading towards it to provide innovative options to their customers. The VAS market
of India was USD 700 million on November 2006 as reported by IMRB. On the other
hand, with data
21 % of total mobile service revenues by June 2006, telecom
. contributing
,
. consulting fum Ovum forecasts that mobile VAS will generate over USD 11.5 billion
revenues in China by 2010, a 48% surge from 2006. So, both Mobile Operators (service
provider) and Vendors (equipment manufacturers) are concentrating on introducing new
features or extra benefit rather traditional voice service.
,
. In addition to M~bile Operators, another big industry called Content Provider is grOwingO
up very rapidly., These are the third parties who supply the different VAS content 10
Operators. The increased importance of VAS has also made content devclopers burn the
midnight oil to come up with better and newer concepts and services.
A lot of value added services are available worldwide mobile industry and most of them
arc introduced in Bangladeshi market. Sometimes, people do not use or accept VAS
properly due to lack of awareness about value added service. For example, Short Message
Service (SMS) is one of the most popular VAS which has a lot of application like sending
text message, chatting, banking, news, bills pay, voting in completion, Result of Public
-Examination (SSC, HSC), email but most of the users use SMS only to send greetings
during festival/ceremony. This is a powerful/cheaper tool to conullllnicate when the
coverage signal or mobile battery is very low or during conversation in a noisy place.
,
Another useful VAS is conducting meeting using conference call or getting Tele-
,
Medicine service round the clock. Other VASs available in market are Multimedia
Service (MMS), Voice Message Service (VMS), Customized Ring Tone, Customized
,
Call Back Tone, Mobile Internet, Missed Call Alert, Voice portal, Song dedication, Voice
SMS, Cellbazar, M-commerce etc.
,
Though a lot of Market research and study is ongoing worldwide, but there is no publicly
available study on Mobile VAS in Bangladesh which is required by both the mobile
. opemtors and the content providers to better address the needs of their customers. The
proposed research will help stakeholders to understand the Mobile VAS space and also
provide a direction ~ the wave of growth.
'
.
-
I
1.2
OBJECTIVES
--
The Objective of this project is concentrated on:
i. Understand the customer perception and present status of Mobile VAS in
Bangladesh,
11.
Find out the requirements or expectations of different target group and mass
people.
1Il.
Trace out future demand pattern orYAS using forecasting method.
IV.
Evaluate the prospects or market growth orYAS in Mobile Industry of
Bangladesh.
v. Re<:ommendation for Operators and Content Provider or Entrepreneur.
The possible outcome oflbe proposed study is to make an estimation orYAS market
, volume and fmd out the path to increase awareness or understanding orYAS usage in
mobile industry. This research will also explore the opportunity of new Entrepreneur as
Content Provider to nurture the mobile VAS market in Bangladesh. Finally it will provide
a way forward to make a bridge between Operators' services and people'8 expectations.
1.3
METHODOLOGY
To achieve the desired output of the project, it needs to develop some process and follow
SOmesteps such as:
I. Design the questionnaire on Value Added Service for Survey.
11. Conduct Survey to identify people's perception on VAS and its usage.
Ill.
Analyze data from industry associations such as BJRC,
Opemtors and study
relevant research documents published in other countries (India, China) that will
provide conceptual framework.
IV. Find out the relationship between VAS usage with respect to mobile usage based
on survey data.
v. Analyze historical data of mobile VAS growth and evaluate future demand using
forecasting method.
I
CHAPTER 2
VALUE ADDED SERVICE
2.1
VASDefinition
The value added service (VAS) is a telecommunications industry term for nOll-core
services or, in short, all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions. On a
conceptual level, value.added services add value to the standard service offering, spurring
the subscriber to use their phone more and allomng the operator to drive up their ARPU.
. For mobile phones, while technologies like 3M3, MMS and GPRS are usually considered
value-added services, a distinction may also be made between standard (peer-to-peer)
content and premirun-charged content.
Value-added services are supplied either in-bouse by the mobile network operator
themselves or by a third-party Value Added Service Provider (VASP), also known as a
. Content Provider (CPl. VASPs typically connect to the operator using proto<;olslike
Short message peer-to-peer protocol (SMPP), connecting either directly to the short
message service centre (SMSC) or, increasingly, to a messaging gateway that ailows the
operator to control and charge of the content better.
2.2
Mobile VAS in Bangladesh
2.2.1 SMS
Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of
short text messages between mobiie telephone devices. The SMS technology has
facilitated the deveiopment and growth of text messaging. The connection between the
-phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of
the worid the term "SMS" is used colloquially as a synonym for a text message frOm
another person or the act of sending a text message. SMS was originally designed as part
of GSM, but is now available on a wide range of networks, including 3G networks,
SMS derives its benefit from ubiquity and simplicity (then: is no separate "SMS lIddress"
to learn, us v.ith ell1llil). These usability lldvnntagcs bnlnnce the fact thIIt SMS messages
lire OCCllSionnllydelayed or even dropped; in pmctice, most m=ges
arrive fairly
quickly.
-1bc
mnximum
single text message
~ize b either
160 chameten.
Lllrger content
(Concatenated SMS. multipart or SC:gmatted SMS or ~Iong SMS") enn be sent using
multiple messages. in which
= CIIchmCS$llgewill
start with II user data hcnder (UDH)
containing scgmenllltion information. Since: UDH is iru;ide the pnylolld, the number of
characters per segment is 153. 1bc receiving handset is then resporu;ible for russc:mbling
. the message and presenting it to the user lIS On<:long mCSSllge. While the stnndnrd
theon:tically permits up to 255 segments, 6 to 8 segment mcsSllgcs IlIl: the pmetical
rn.nximum, and long m=ges
~
"
r
llll: often billed lI.Sequivalent to multiple SMS messages.
,.
,.
,
':
D ••.•••
"
NotlflUllo1I
•
Figure 2.1: Typienl dingrnrn shov.ing SMS flow
M=ges
nre sent to II Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) which provides a store-
and-forward mechanism. It attempts to scnd messages to their recipients. If II recipient is
not reachable, the SMSC queues the message for IIlIer retry. Some SMSCs lliso provide II
"forward IlDd forget" option when: tnmsmission is tried only once:. Message deliver)' is
best effort, so there nre no gwtmlltees that II message will lICtunily be delivered to its
recipient IlT1ddelay or complete loss of a message is nOI uncommon, particularly when
sending between networks. Uscrs may choosc to request delivery reports, which can
provide positive confirmation that the message has reached the intended recipient.
,
I
I
The following are the major services available using 8M3:
1. Text message,
2. 8M3 chatting,
3. 8MS banking,
4. 8M3 news
5. Bills pay,
6. Voting in oompetition
7. Result of Public Examination (SSe, HSC)
8. 8M3 Email
2.2.2 MMS
Multimedia Messaging
SCn'ice (MMS) is a standard for telephone messaging systems
that allows sending messages that include multimedia objects Le. images, audio, video,
. rich text etc. M:M:S-enabled mobile phones enable subscribers to compose and send
messages with one or more multimedia parts. These content types should confonn to the
MMS Standards. For example, one's your phone can send an MPEG-4 video in AVI
fonnat, but the other party who is receiving the MMS may not be able \0 interpret it. To
avoid this, all mobiles should follow the standards defmed by OMA. Mobile phones with
built-in or attached camcra'l, or with built-in MP3 players are very likely to also have an
MMS messaging client-a software program that interacts with the mobile subscriber to
compose, address, send, receive, and view MMS messages.
2.2.3 VMS'
Voice Message Service (VMS) is a standard for telephone messaging systems that allows
leaving and hearing lengthy, secure and detailed messages in natural voice using mobile
pJ;1ones.One can enable VMS with certain conditions so that incoming calls fulfilling the
condition will be diverted to VMS server and caller will be given option to leave a voice
message to called ~y.
Called party will be notified about VMS so that he/she can hear
the recorded voice message at hislher convenience.
The adoption
of volcemail
- corporations improved the flow of communications and saved huge amounts of money.
Though VMS systems are much more sophisticated than answering machines and it can:
ill
a) answer many phones at the same time
b) store incoming voice messages in personalized mailboxes associated with the
user's phone number
c) cnablc users to forward received messages to another voice mailbox
d) send messages to onc or more other user voice mailboxes
e) add a voice introduction to a forwarded message
f) store voice messages for future delivery
g) make calls to a telephone or paging service to notify the user a message has
arrived in his mailbox
h) transfer callers to another phone number for personal assistance
i)
2.2.4
play different message greetings to different callers.
Conference CaD
- A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than
one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be
designed to allow the called party to participate during the call or the call may be set up
so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak. Conference calls can
be designed so that the calling party calls the other participants and adds them to the call.
In most cases, the participants are able call into the conference call themselves. Maximum
six persons can attend in a conference call using mobile phone.
Businesses use conference calls daily to meet with remote parties, both internally and
outside
of
their
company.
Conunon
applications
are
client
meetings
or
sales
presentations, project meetings and updates, regular team meetings, training classes and
. communication
to employees who work in different locations. Conference
calling is
viewed as a primary means of cutting travel costs and allowing workers to be more
productive by not having to go out-of-office for meetings.
Conference calls are increasingly
presentations
or documents
used in conjunction
with web conferences,
are shared via the internet.
Conference
where
calls are also
. beginning to cross over into the world of pod casting and social networking, which in turn
fosters new kinds of interaction patterns. Live streaming or broadcasting of conference
cci1lsallows a Jarger audience access to the call without dialing in to a bridge.
,
2.2.5 Ringtone
A Ringtonc is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming cail, The term,
however, is most often used to refer to the customizable sounds availabie on mobile
phones. Modern ring tones have become extremely diverse, leading to phone
personalization and customization.
. Newer mobile phones allow users to associate different ring tones with individual family
members and friends. Taking advantage of these features, a new ring tone maker trend
has emerged. Some providers allow users to create their own music tones, either with a
"melody composer" or a samplelloop arranger. However, these use native fonnats only
available to one particular phone model or brand. Other formats, such as MIDI or MP3,
. are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a
normal ring tone. Commercial ring tones take advantage of this functionality, which has
led to the success of the mobile music industry. Some Content Providers publish ringlone
of any new audio album or cinema during the release of that album. The latest innovation
is the sing tone, a type of karaoke ring tone where a user's voice recording is adjusted to
be both in time and in tune then mixed with a backing track to make a user-created ring
tone.
There are different types of ringtone. Monophonic ringtone is a ringtone that can play
oilly one type of musical tone at a time where as polyphonic ringtone can play several
types of tones at' a time (up to 72 in recent phones). The most popular ringtone type is
Truetone which has been encoded with a high fidelity format such MP3, AAC, or WMA
forniat, and represents the !litestevolution of the ringtone.
2.2.6
Caner Ring Back Tone (CRBT):
A Ring Back Tone (RB1) is the audible ringing that is heard on the telephone line by the
,
calling party after dialing and prior to the call being answered at the receiving end. In
,
recent years personalized ring-back tones have become globally popular. With this
feature, callers will hear an audio selection applied to the telephone line that has been
previously determined by the ealled party. Audio selections can include music, messages,
and special effects. It is not generated by the called party mobile phone rather equipment
is installed in the telephone network to enable replacement of the standard ring-back tone
•
(
'with a personalized audio selection. The application of the personalized audio selections
is accomplished with a subscriber account that can be modified through Internet, SMS, or
Voice User Interfaces, as well as by customer care personnel.
2.2.7 MCA:
. Missed Call Alert (MCA) is a uscful application which allows users to get all missed
calls infonnation whcn the mobile is OFF or out of coverage. MCA is enabled based on
monthly subscription and user is notified about missed call infonnation through SMS
when the mobile phone is ON or within coverage.
2.2.8
Voice Portal:
Voice Portal allows user to surf and get required infonnation using inter-active voice
re'corder (lVR). User cails in a predefined number and press different number to gct
different services. The available services over voice portals are:
,)
News,
b) Yeilow Pages,
0) Sports update,
d) Horoscope,
0) Jokes,
0
Music,
g) Recipe,
h) Ringtone
2.2.9
Voice-Chatting:
Voice-Chatting is the voice-version of popular text-based chatting using internet or SMS
which allows user to chat with other user seiecting voice. In text-based chatting, user can
hide gender or age but this problem is absent in yoice-chatting.In
this system, user is
required to record hislher voice during registration. To start chatting, user dials one
predefined number and hear recorded voice of different age group. When he/she select on
voice, then a call is generated to selected voice owner and if called party accepts this call,
•
f
chatting starts. The mobile numbers of both calling and called parties are not published by
the system.
2.2.10 Song Dedication:
Song Dedication is another popular service that allows user to send or dedicate selected
song to seiected person. This is a inter-active voice based service and user can seiect song
fonn different category i.e. type, singer, situation and send to desired number. User can
add hisfher own voice with song before sending to called party and song can be sent
instantly or as per schedule i.e. birthday, marriage anniversary etc.
2.2.11 Music Stations:
Music Stations acts like a round the clock radio station. Subscriber can hear song from
thousands of songs by dialing a particular number (5858 for Banglalink). Songs are
categorized based language, type, time etc. Now Banglalink and CityCeli has this service.
. There is monthly subscription fee and per-minute charge for this service.
2.2.12
Pay For Me:
,
. ,
Nonnally operators charge calling party for any sort of voice or value added services. But
Pay For Me serviCe aliows operators to charge called party for any voice caiL Preregistration is required to avail this service and continnation from called party to pay for
calling party is a part of registration.
;
2.2.13 GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented Mobile Data Service
_available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136
mobile phones. It provides data rates from 56 up to 114 kbitls. GPRS can be used for
services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, Short Message Service
(SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet communication services
such as email and World Wide Web access. GPRS data transfer is typically charged per
megabyte of throughput, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is
. billed per minute of connection time, independent of whether the user actually is utilizing
the capacity or is in an idle state. GPRS is a bcst-effort packet switched service, as
opposed to circuit switching, where a certain Quality of Service (QoS) is guaranteed
during the connection for non-mobile users .
. 2G cellular sy.stems combined with GPRS is often described as 2.5G, that is, a technology
between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile telephony.
[t
provides
moderate speed data transfer, by using unused Time division multiplc access (TOMA)
channels in, for example, the GSM system. Originally there was some thought to extend
GPRS to cover other standards, but instead those networks are being converted to use the
GSM standard, so that GSM is the only kind of network where GPRS is in use. WAP is
just a gateway used to access Internet via mobile phonc and vicc-versa. Variants ofGPRS
devices are as follows:
Class A : Can be connected to GPRS service and GSM service (voice, SMS), using both
at the same time. Such devices are known to be available today.
Ciass B : Can be connected to GPRS service and GSM service (voice, SMS), but using
only one or the other at a given time. During GSM service (voice call or SMS), GPRS
service is suspended, and then resllllled automatically after the GSM service (voice call or
SMS) has concluded. Most GPRS mobile devices are Class B.
,
. Class C : Are connected to either GPRS service or GSM service (voice, SMS). Must be
switched manually between one or the other service.
A: true Class A device may be required 10 transmit on two differcnt frequencies at the
same time, and thus will need two radios. To get around this expensive requirement, a
GPRS mobile may implement the dual transfer mode (OTM) feature. A OTM-capable
. mobile may use simultaneous voice and packet data, with the network coordinating to
ensure that it is not required to transmit on two different frequencies at the same time.
Such mobiles are considered pseudo-Class A, sometimes referred to as "simple class A".
GPRS upgrades GSM data services providing:
a) Multimedia, Messaging Service (MMS)
b) Push to talk over Cellular PoC I PIT
c) Instant Messaging and Presence - Wireless Village
"
d) Internet Applications for Smart Devices through Wireless Appiication Protocol
(WAP)
e) Point-to-point (PTP) service: intemetworking with the Internet (IP protocols)
f) Short Message Service (SMS)
GPRS can be used as the bearer of SMS. If SMS over GPRS is used, an SMS
transmission speed of about 30 SMS messages per minute may be achieved. This is much
. faster than using 'the ordinary SMS over GSM, whose SMS transmission speed is about 6
to 10 SMS messages per minute.
2.2.14 EDGE
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) is a digital mobile phone technology
that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability.
EDGE is generally classified as 2.75G, aithough it is part ofITU's 3G definition. EDGE
can be used for any packet switched application, such as an Intemel connection. Highspeed data applications such as video services and other multimedia benefit from EGPRS
increased data capacity. EDGE Circuit Switched is a possibie future development
. EDGE is implemented as a bolt-on enhancement for 2G and 2.5G GSM and GPRS
networks, making it easier for existing GSM carriers to upgrade to it. It is a superset to
GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS depioyed on it, provided the carrier
implements the necessary upgrade. EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbitls for 4
timeslots (theoreticill maximwn is 473.6 kbitls for 8 timeslots) in packet mode.
. 2.2.15 Telemedicine
l'e1cmedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical
infonnation is transferred via telephone, the Internet or other networks for the purpose of
consulting and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations. Te1emedicinemay
be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case ovcr the telephone, or as
compiex as using satellite technology and video-confercncing cquipment to conduct a
real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different countries.
Telemedicine generally refers to the use of commwllcations and information technoiogies
for the delivery of ciinical care. User can dial a predefined number to get 24 hours
medical services from a doctor.
"
'2.2.16 CeUbazar:
Cellbazllris the SMS-based application that allows users to sell or buy their product using
mobile phones. After registration, user needs to leave hisJher product description and
price so that other user can see it. Products are listed based on different category i.e.
product type, location, price elc like a mega-shop so the user can easily find out hisJher
required item during surfing using SMS.
2.2.17 Call Block:
Call block is service to block the calls from unwanted numbers. Due to reduced tariffrate
or bonus free minutes, sometimes we have to receive a lot of disturbing call at working
,
time or late night. To avoid this harassment call, peoples had to switch-off their mobile
phones, change mobile numbers frequcntly or seek help from operators or law enforcing
agencies. But with Call Block service, subscriber can make black list with unwanted
phone numbers or white list with only preferred caller's numbers. Though calls will be
blocked, subscriber,can get SMS notification about blocked caller's number and time of
. call. There is monthly subscription fee and another fee for per number addition in the
blackfwhite list
2.2.18 NamazllftarfSehri Alert:
This is a subscription based service. Once subscribed, people will receive SMS alerts
. before Fajr, Johr, Asr, Maghrib and Esha prayer times. IftarlSehri services are available
only during month of Ramadan.
2.2.19 Stock Information:
Subscriber can get Stock information of DSE or CSE subscribing this service. Only GP
. laUnched this service naming Bull. People can get following information using this
SeMCe:
I. Current price, highest price, iowest price, and number of traded shares of any
stock from both DSE and CSE
2. Summary information ofa particular company
3. Index
4. Graph
5. Alert
I
CHAPTER 3
FACTORS AFFECTING VAS
3.1
Introduction
There are a lot of factors which are affecting VAS usage and revenue, Mobile VAS can
. be, categorized in different point of views Le. by nature, revenue generating factors,
market driving factors, environmental factors etc.
3.2
Classification of Mobile VAS by Nature
3.2.1 Entertainment VAS
. Entertainment
VAS is designed for mass appeal and extensive usage. These provide
entertainment for leisure time usage. Examples of these kinds of services are Jokes, Song,
Ringtones and games. These services are currently very popular and are driving the
revenues for the mobile VAS market.
3.2.2 Info,VAS
These are the services which provide useful information to the end user, The user interest
comes in from the personal component of the content i.e. information on movie tickets,
news, banking account etc. These also include productivity
services like missed call
information which brings back lost business opportunity for the operators. They also
include user request
for infonnation
on other product
categories
like real-estate,
educatlOn, yellow-pages etc.
3.2.3
M-Commerce
M-Commerce is the transactional services that allow the user to conduct a transaction
using the mobile phone. These services are in a very nascent phase and are not really
. available to moS): users. Examples of this kind of service are buying railway tickets or
movie tickets through the mobile phone.
(
3.3
Revenue Generation Factors of Mobile VAS
. The revenue generation and popularity of these three types of VAS revolves around 2
factors.
3.3.1
Perceived Value
Perceived value of a VAS depends on perceived rather than the actual utility to the end
user. Wheu the immediate benefit may not be clear to the subscriber, the value that a
. subscriber derives from it largely depends on the marketing efforts and persona related to
the service. The value is gauged more from the intangible benefits derived from the
service like emotional benefits. A good example of a VAS with high perceived value is
CRBT (Caller Ring 'Back Tone).
3.3.2
Practical value
Practical value is completely based on tangible benefits derived from the service. The
benefits considered' could be based on convenience and saving of time and money i.e.
service availed to get the cheapest air fares available.
Three categories of VAS provide a unique combination ofpereeived and practical values
for every user and this may change over time as the market and users evolve. To
understand the growth of the different types of VAS and their future growth, they have
been analyzed on both of the above mentioned factors in this study.
3.4
The Role of VAS
. Operators are facing cutthroat competition and with the call rates in Bangladesh being
one ofthc cheapest in the world, the margins are very low. Therefore they are looking at
VAS as the next wave for growth. It has become the flywheel of te1ecom growth and a
large chunk of revenue for operators is likely to come from VAS services in the years to
come. But it is not only effort from operators which is driving the growth of VAS, there
are other factors contributing to it. The growth of VAS in Bangladesh has been helped
both by macro level environmental factors and specific market initiatives to develop this
category.
3.5
Market efforts driving VAS
For the operators, success of VAS has become important for their grol'l'th. This has led to
a sharp focus on marketing and tie-ups and a somewhat limited focus on development of
content. Most operators are now trying to innovate in their VAS offerings and create
sharper differentiation for their offerings.
3.5.1
Focus on movies and music
Movies and Music are the passion of Bangladesh. Most ofthc rich content available to the
end users revolves around these two, with Ringtones of popular songs, Wallpapers of
movie leads and games developed around movie themes. Given that Youth account for a
large segment of users and also dominate the pre-paid category, the focus on
entertainment has bccn a strong hook to develop the VAS category and operators and
content aggregators have been sharply focused in their efforts to pluck this low hanging
,
fruit. 11has been helpful that the film industry is very prolific and there are endless
options to develop content around.
.3.5.2 SMScontests
Television is another culturally entrenched constant in the life of the average Bangladesh.
,
Typically TV viewing has been a passive affair, however following the global trend TV
charmels have been focused on making programming interactive. Thus programs,
especially music and contest shows have started giving the option to their viewers to
.participate through SMS. Different talent hunt Programme (Close-upl),
Recipe
Programme, Language Learning Programme (VOCAB) etc. are designed with the
participants of viewers using SMS. These shows have also been a key driver in increasing
,
,
fapliliarity with basic SMS for traditional low user segments like non-working women.
3.5.3 FM Radio
I'M radio has startcd playing one revolntionary role in communication and SMS becomes
part and parcel of FM radio. Most of the current ON AIR Programmes on FM radio are
SMS based. Some programmes are LIVE and listeners can participate in those
programmes by sending SMS where they can share their views, request favourite songs,
send poems etc depending on the nature of the programmes. Some examples of these
.programmes are Today's Adda or U-Turn on Radio Today, Good Morning Dhaka on
t
Radio Foorti, Chera Pata on Radio Amar etc. Each radio has one short code and listeners
send SMS on those numbers Le. 8960 for Radio Today, 9840 for Radio Foorti etc.
3.6
Environmental factors driving VAS
. 3.6.1 Booming «,onomy
Bangladesh is increasing its position as the developing COWltryas rising consumer and
government spending taking place. Consumption and infrastructure spending are driving
the growth. In addition to rcadymade garment sector, world famous Telco Giants like
Te/enor (GrameenPhone), Telecom Malaysia (AKTEL), Orascom Telecom (Banglalink),
. SingTe! (CityCell), Dhabi Group (Warid) entered in Bangladeshi Market to provide
ldecom services. This booming economy has created job opportunities and increased the
spending power of an average Bangladeshi. This has resulted in higher disposable
incomes and faster acceptance of new technologies with a willingness to spend forthem.
3.6.2 Increasing comfort Icvels with basic mobility services
There is now a critical mass of users in the Bangladesh mobile telephony market who are
experienced mobility users. These users are very comfortable in using their phones and
want to exercise the option of doing more on them beyond basic voice applications. The
fIrst phase of growth for VAS has come in from these converts and these users will
continue to drive the market and evolve into more advanced applications. At the same
. lime the basic VAS applications will also continue to appeallo the new mobility category
initiates.
3.6.3
Personalization olthe digital world and digital deviccs
With increasing pressures and stress on individuality, mobility users also want to carry
_forward their individuality to their mobile device. Thus for a large number of users the
mobile phone has become a truly personal device and VAS has become an extension of
persona. The enormous success of Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) is an excellent
,
example which illustrates that users are ready to adapt to any service which offer them the
option of personalization.
I
3.6.4 Reduction in call rldes
As per BTRC rule, reduction on call rates is an important initiative which unshackled the
mobility market and allowed many more subscribers to enter the mobility category. This
initiative, in conjunction with the gradual reduction in VAS rates has ensured that the
expenditure on voice for a typical user has gone down over the years. As a result more
users have become comfortable in spending on VAS as it docs not significantly impact
their overall outlay on mobillty.
CHAPTER 4
VAS BUSINESS MODEL
4.]
Introduction
The mobile VAS market in Bangladesh has evolved into
11
complex ecosystem. There nre
multiple entities involved in the value chain but our research reveals thalh is still nol well
defined and 101of ovcrlapping takes place. A single entity performs one or more roles nnd
SC\'cJUlIlJ1:lI.Isofocusing on expanding their existing roles.
"Themllin entities involved in VAS vnIue chain nre:
...... .'
.
.'
. I
••••••
••••
'
.....••••
I'I~~~I
;:,;i";:;! I!lil1l!iiQI
":".
~1~!1ii"
1
1
C<mlenl flow
::ii!!l.l'o:tal
'-ilA
JltIl"
10;'~
COIltrnl flow
o.volopn ,h,
" IO\>nor I~ijl,
Figure 4.\ : VAS Ecosystem
,4.2
4.2.1
Content Enablers
Content PortaWAggregatorsfDcvclopcrs:
At the first level existing portals in the Internet space are providing content to end users.
For most of them, mobile data content offers an additional revenues stream, from a
strategic perspective it also offers an opportunity to leverage the traffie to the portal and
generate potential advertising revenues. Ringtones and wallpapers are two very popular
categories where portals like nexlnet and shabox lead. On the next level there are a host
of large content aggregators. Most of these offer content directly to the end user through
their own portal and also provide content to mobile operators. They perform the twin
functions of in-house content developmcnt and also aggregating from other smaller
-boutiques. There are also many small pure development entities, as they do not have the
technical support to host content or to negotiate with operators they prefer to provide it to
aggregators"
4.2.2 Third Party Copy Right Owner
. Most of the rich content in mobile VAS is built around Boll)'Wood movies and music.
The copyright for these are held by production houses or rests with individual artistes. A
part of the revenue is shared as fee with the owners for using the copyright material.
Apart from Ringlone and wallpaper development there is also a growiug trend of game
development around
, popular movies or dramas.
.4.2.3
Traditional Mcdia Companies
F';lllowingthe global trend most traditional media companies are also trying to bring the
feature of interaetivity into their media. As we have discussed in the first part, SMS
contests have been a very successful way for TV channels or FM radio to achieve this.
However
using this feature involved revenue sharing with severai entities, so to generate
,
. cost
the long run, some media houses have expanded and acquired Short
, efficiencies over
.
Codes for their own brands. Prominent amongst them are Channel-I, Banglavision, Radio
Today, Radio Foorti, Radio Amar etc.
4.3
TechnologyEnablers
4.3.1
Short Code Provider:
These are the companies who own a short code (e.g. 1234, 3456 etc) which is sold to a
third party client for some keyword and a specific period. They have a tie up with
'multiple operators to ensure customers of all operators send the SMS to the same nwnber.
e.g. ifBanglavision
wants to get participants for a TV show, it can advertise "Type 'X' on
your mobile phones and send to 6161" .The server at destination 6161 would identifY the
message with the keyword 'X' and route it to Banglavision. The entry barrier is very high
because of high initial deposit and need to tic up with cach operator for each individual
. circle.
Table 4.1 : List of Short Code Providers
"(loae:OWDe~
*~lNo
J:t;!H!~W
",,-
4.3.2
'" ~~~
I
' Channel-i
2345
2
NTV
1234
3
Banglavision
6161
4
Radio Today
8960
5
Radio Foorti
9840
TeebDology Partner/Platform
Enabler:
. Technology partner and platform enabler handle software platforms and authoring tools
Platforms are the backbone of the service providers and allow managing of various
entertainment
services,
such as games, streaming
audio and video and ring tone
downloads. Authoring tools are a necessary component for delivering applications by
application developers .
.4.4
4.4.1
Revenue Sharing in VAS
Revenue sharing arrangement
in VAS:
Operators typically retain the biggest chunk of revenues. Copyright fee given to eontent
developer/owner
comes from the margin of Content Aggregator or Operator or both .
. Revenue sharing arrangement is typically 60% for the operator, 25% for the aggregator
and 15% for the oWner, This model is significantly different from evolved market like
China where the share of operator is typically 20-30% in the entire chain and aggregators
and owners keep a much higher share.
4.4.2
Revenue sharing in entcrprise
solution services:
Enterprise service providers are increasingly using VAS as a marketing and customer
development tool. It is being increasingly used to connect to users through the mobility
platform. Eg. "Tracking ofDHL courier through SMS- Send POD number as DHL-XYZ
to 3456" The end user requests for this service by sending an SMS, this is routed through
the mobile service operator to the Short code service provider. The short code provider
. collects all the infonnation on the server and passes it to the client (Eg. DHL). The per
unit revenue accrual in this VAS is low (Tk 21SMS) as compared to other types of VAS,
,
but it offers two streams of revenues as both the end-user and the enterprise service
,
provider pay for the VAS. We expect this to grow significantly
as cnterprises look
beyond mass media for solutions to reach out to their customers. It is also cost effective
. for the enterprise as it serves both as a data base development initiative and also leads to
cost savings as queries can be handled through automated response.
Amongst enterprise;service providers VAS is more popular amongst certain verticals due
to their Immediate amicability to this service:
1. Stock Market Infonnation
2. Real estate information
3. FMCG contests
4. Cargo and courier tracking
5. Education! Career information
6. Travel services In e-space
4.5
VAS Platforms
Every service needs a platform for delivery. VAS can be provided to the customers on
. two platforms- Data and Voice.
4.5.1 Datarrext Platfonn:
-
The end user sends the service request in an SMS form. The request goes to a server
managed by the Platform enabler on behalf of the operator. The content is arranged by the
Operator from the Content Aggregator who procures it from the Content developer. This
content is forwarded to the Platform enabler who stores it in the server. The server
aUlomaticallyand instantaneously entertains the request from the customer as all these
VAS are preloaded into the server.
4.5.2 VoicePlatform:
The end user calls up the service provider and avails of the service. The call is routed to a
server managed by, Platform enabler. The server interacts with callers using IVRS
(Interactive Voice Recognition System), gathers information and routes calls to the
appropriate recipient. The remaining chain is swne as that of a text based platform. Per
unit voice based VAS generates more revenue than text based VAS as the call charges are
very high at TK 2-4 min and selecting the service normally takes morc than a minute.
This means that for the same service voicc based will generate several times the revenue
over text based VAS.
_As the penetration increases more in rural Bangladesh, necessity and importance ofIVRS
,
wiiI increase as people will be more comfortable with an interactive voice platform in
lo'cailanguage over selecting options by pressing numbers.
4.6
Predicting the Emerging Business Model
. As the wireless electronic technology moves towards 3G and higher technologies, there
will be a greater need for on demand videol data, network gaming application and a
whole new family of value rich features. It is also clear that India's demography demands
of business need for greater customer choice and customization. In fact, regional content
is considered to be the catalyst to the growth of thc market. And this is precisely the
reason we have a bipolar model developing in the Indian scenario. Thus, business models
will be influenced by contemporary technology and will be aimed towards increasing
customer choice.
4.7
Managerial Implications
There are some important implications for stakeholders. The government needs to realize
that we need to have a regulator who has the powers to deal with the convergence of
technologics bctwecn both media and telecom. A relevant issue would be the kind of
managerial talent and abilities that will be required in this emerging industry. 1be
foremost managerial quality we foresee is the ability to work under uncertain conditions,
•
:
I
since the evolving business scenario doesn't provide the kind of security and stability that
we typically see in relatively mature industries such as banking. Internally managers
would have an equally daunting task of making critical decisions regarding which
technology paths and projects to pursue. This would involve canceling at times projects
and technologies mid way which could lead to a loss of employee morale and high
. attrition rate. So,, stemming the outflow of employees while helping to retrain existing
.
employees would also be significant.
Externally, this would involve the ability to manage different kinds of clients and
partners: as their needs change rapidly, these relationship definitions would change
dynamically. Hence managers have to assume differcnt roles for different partners!
clients. At the top level, the ability to sense changes in the marketplace both in terms of
technology and business relationships becomes very critical. Stakeholder management
also becomes important as no clear winner has yet been identified in the value chain.
Finally, lobbying for favorable regulations from government and regulatory bodies will
also become a required business skill.
CHAPTERS
CHALLENGES
TO VAS GROWTH
,There are several major challenges which need to be overcome for sustained growth to be
initiated. The major challenges that need the immediate attention of key stakeholders are:
5.1
Focus only on youth and entertainment
Usage of VAS has not spread evenly across demographic profile of customers, Currently
. the youth segment is driving the VAS market as can be seen from the rapid growth of
Entertainment VAS (mass service) and not so rapid growth of mCommerce and
Infotainment VAS (customized service). In light of this trend the stakeholders are also
playing safe and concentrating on mass services for which content is easily available and
chances of failure is less. But this has hampered the growth of other services which are
not getting enough time, effort and investment from the players. For the VAS market to
bloom fully, applications need to be created for niche segments, as these are the services
which will create real value for the subscribers.
5.2
License of Content Provider
. Though Content Market is becoming very big day by day but slll1 now no licensing
guidelines have been provided by BIRe (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission). This'is required to legalize ail the issues relevant to Contents or Content
Providers. Licensing guidelines will be published very soon as expressed by BIRC
chairman in a recent seminar on Copyright and Piracy arranged by one leading daily
newspaper on Angust 2008.
I
5.3
Piracy of ~ontent
Another reason for players playing safe and not investing in novel applications and
content is that this market is greatiy affected by piracy. This is acting as a barrier for
companies investing into content development. One of the solutions to increase customer
retention is by providing exclusive content to them, however this is hampered by piracy.
Thus piracy is hurting the operators both ways, neither can they stop customer chum by
exclusive content development nor can they go in for investment in innovative
applications to spread their demographic reach. For example, EBS (with brand uame
BUZZ) one of largest content provider, has exclusive agreement with some music
company i.e. Gaanchil but same songs are being offered (as ring tone, CRBT elc) by other
content providers though as per exclusive agreement it should not be. It Is being heard
that Contents issues,wil! be included in Copy Right Acts-2001 very soon.
5.4
Lack of Infrastructure
There are a lot of services which cannot be introduced in Bangladesh because of lack of
supporting infrastructure. E.g., Absence of location based VAS. Location based VAS is
still not possible due to the lack of digitized map of Bangladesh. Applications like live
video-sharing are yet to arrive In this market. In evolved markets like Finland and Korea,
a 'user can shoot his own video and simultaneously show it to his friend in some other
. city. This kind of application would take some time to arrive in Bangladesh. To avail of
new and high end VAS, technologies like 3G need to be introduced. However, 3G
networks are not mere upgrades of2G networks; rather, entirely new networks need to be
built and frequencies need to be assigned to mobile operators.
5;5
Preference for low feature handsets
Though the mobile subscriber base is growing, a large chunk of the market is opting for
basic low feature handsets in spite of the fact that handset prices are coming down. There
is a mindset to purchase the handset for basic utility service which is voice. But these
handsets are not in a position to support a large number of VAS. Since in many VAS like
. MMS, both the sender and receiver handsets need to support MMS, the scope of such
VAS gets limited, This is further impeding the introduction of high end VAS. There are
many services which are not performing to their potential despite their usefulness and
there are some which cannot even be introduced.
5.6
High cost to the end user
cUrrently the cost of most VAS is high. This is mainly because of the fact that VAS
market is lead by Entertainment VAS which has a high perceived value. People are
paying for it as they perceive it higWybut over a period of time as they get used to it, the
wiilingness to pay high amounts may come down. We feel that a market correction in
VAS cost to end user will result in higher usage both in terms of customers and their
frequency of usage.
5.7
Absence of utility services
These are those services which have a high practical value. But currently due to lack of
. familiarity and awareness from the end-user and iack of investment, effort and marketing
from the supplier's side is resulting in very few such services being avaiiable in
Bangladesh. Such services mainly fail in the category ofmCommerce and to some extent
Infotainment. Customers are also currently not comfortabie with mCommerce. As the
comfort level increases which can be brought about by encouraging government action
.like robust policies, laws etc, we will see exponential rise in VAS usage. The future
belongs to services providing value to the customer exploiting the mobiiity factor.
5.8
Transparency in revenue sharing
Transparency is a big issue faced by the entities in the Mobile VAS value chain. The
. market is highly wrregulated and there is no transparency in terms of contact payouts and
royalties. There are several entities involved betwcen customer and Content Owner (e.g.
artist) and the flow of revenue is not transparent. Other entities feei that mobile operators
take a very high share of the overali revenue, this affects the content development market
with lower incentive to the deveioper to provide higher quality content The difference is
especially stark when compared to developed markets where pay-outs are well defined
and more balanced.
5.9
Underdeveloped WAP market
The key issues constraining the develepment of the WAP market are Lack of WAP
enabied handsets and limited incidence of active usage of WAl', Speed of connectivity
which prevents an enriching experience, limited customization of existing portals .for
WAP usage and,iimited content for WAP awess. WAP usage is extremeiy limited and
currently most operators do not seem to be aggressively focused on increasing usage.
Current user experience with WAP is iimited to download of rich content like logos and
games, We feel that extensive WAP usage can take off given the significant growth in the
number ofIntemet users. More number of evolved Internet users would be willing to look
at accessing the Internet on mobile if appropriate content was available. However the
WAP portals of most operators offer llmited content and therefore cannot deliver a
meaningful online experience on the mobile for the end user.
5.10 Spam
There are high volumes of SpOOlin the VAS market currently. Spam is an uninvited
message urging the consumer to avail of some service. Example "Bid for a laptop by
messaging your bid amount to XXXX" srAM has a high nuIsance value and can
discourage users 'to avail of a genuine service as they feel that once they have availed of a
. service and their number becomes a part of a database, their inbox will be flooded with
uninvited messages! As an industry initiative there is a pressing need to take charge of as
it goes against the long term interest of the industry.
,
CHAPTER 6
SURVEY ON VALUE ADDED SERVICE
.6.1
What is Survey
The word Survey is used most often to describe a method of gathering infonnation from a
sample of individuals. The Sample is just a section of population being studied. For
example, a sample of voters is questioned in advance of an election to detelTIllne how the
people perceives the candidates and issues, a manufacturer does a survey of the potential
. market before introducing a new product, a government entity commissions a survey to
gather a factual information it needs to evaluate existing legislation or draft proposed
legislation.
Not only do surveys have a wide variety of purposes, they also can be conducted in many
ways including over phone, by mail or in persons. Nonetheless, all surveys do have
certain characteristics in common.
The size of the sample depends on purpose of the survey. In a bona fide survey, the
sample is not selected haphazardly or only from persons who volunteer to participate. It is
scientifically chosen so that each person of JXlpuiationwill have a measurablc chancc of
. selection. In this way, the results can be reliably projected from the sample to the larger
population. The information is collected by standardized procedures so that every
individual is asked same question is more or less same way. The industry standard is that
individual respondents should never be identified in reporting survey findings. All of
Surveyresults should be presented in completely anonymous sununaries such as statistical
tables and charts.
The sample size required for a survey partly depends on the statistical quality nccded for
survcy findings; this in turns relates to how the results will be used. Even so, there is no
simple rule for sample size that can be used for all surveys. Analyst, though, often find
that a moderate Sample size is sufficient statistically and operationally. For example, the
. weIl known national polls use sample of around 1000 persons to get reasonable
information about national attitudes and opinions. Most surveys are not public opinions
polls but are directed to specific administrative, commercial or scientific purposes.
Surveys can be classified in many ways. One dimension is by size and type of sample.
. Surveys can also be used to study either human or nonhuman population. While many of
the principles are the same for all surveys, the focus will be for methods for surveying
individuals. Many surveys study all persons living in a defined area, but other might foeus
on special population group Le. children, physician, community ieaders, the unemployed
or the users of a particular product or service. Surveys may also be conducted with
. natioual, state or local samples.
Surveys can be classified by their methods of data collection. Maii, telephone interview,
internet use and in-person interview surveys are the most common method. Survey can be
further classified by their content. Some surveys focus on opinions and attitude (preelection survey of voters) while others are concerned with factual characteristics or
'behaviors (people's health, housing, transportation habits etc). Many surveys combine
questions of both types. Questions may be open ended (why do you feel that way?) or
closed ended (Do you approve or disapprove?). Survey takers may ask to respondents to
mte a political candidate or a product on some type of scale, or they may ask for a ranking
of various alternatives. The manner in which a question is asked, can greatly affect the
result ofa survey. .
The confidentiality' of the data supplied by the respondents is of prime concern to all
,
reputable survey organizations. The recommended policy for survcy to safeguard
confidentiality includes using number codes to link to respondent to a questionnaire,
omitting name and address of respondents outside survey organization and destroying
. identification about respondents after response have been entered into computer,
presenting statistical tabulations by broad enough categories
50
that individual
respondents can not' be singled out.
6.2
How to ,Plana Survey
-A survey usually originates when an individual or institution is confronted with an
information need and the existing data is insufficient. The objective of the survey should
be specific, clear-cut and unambiguous as much as possible. First the mode of data
"
collection must be decided upon (mail, telephone, internet or in-person). Once the mode
is decided, the questionnaire can be dcvcloped and pre-tested. Planning the questionnaire
is one of the critical stages in the SlUVeydevelopment process. Social and behavioral
scientists have given a great deal of thought to the design involved. It is common sense to
require that the concepts be clearly defined and the questions unambiguously phrased,
otherwise, the resulting are apt to be seriously misleading. Attention must be given to its
length. Long questionnaire are apt to induce respondent fatigue and errors arising from
inattention, refusals and incomplete answers.
A critical in any survey is to locate (or cover) all members of the population being studied
so that they have a chance to be sampled. To achieve this, a list termed as sampling frame
is constructed. In mail survey, frame could be all postal addresses, for an in-perSon
business survey, a frame might be the names and addresses of the all retail establishment,
telephone survey, the frame might be a simple list of names and telephone nwnbers etc.
Virtually all surveys taken seriously by social scientist or policymakers use some form of
random sampling. Methods of random sampling are wen grounded in statistical theory
and in the theory of probability.
An integral part of well designed survey is to plan-in quality all along the way. One must
. devise ways to keep respondent mistakes and biases to a minimum. For example, memory
is important when a respondent is expected to report on past events as in consumer
expenditure survey.: In this retrospective survey, it is essential that the respondent not to
be forced to report events that may have happened too long ago to be remembered
accurately. Other elements to pretest during planning phase includes whether any of the
questionnaire is too sensitive or they are too difficult to for a willing respondent to
answer.
6.3
How to Collect Survey Data
The use of computer in survey is now becoming quite common. Most of the large-scale
telephone surveys are conducted via CATI (Computer-Assisted
Telephone Interview).
CATI's important advantages are in quality and speed, not in cost savings. CATI can cost
more for small and non-repeated survey due to programming the questionnaires. CA 11's
cost per interview ,decreases as sample size increases. So in'large
scale and/or non-
repeated survey, it is cost effective with conventional telephone methods. In recent years,
portable laptop computers are being used in surveys so that interview or respondents can
directly enter data in the computer. lbis method is called CAPl (Computer-Assisted
Personal Interview). CATI quality and speeds also ouur with CAP!.
No matter what type of data collection is used, there may be munber of back-end
processes that may be needed to get the data in a fOmI so that the aggregated totals,
avcrage or other statistics can be computed. Decision is needed on how to handle missing
. items - in cases where the respondent does know the answer, refused to provide one, the
question was not simply asked. Preferred practice for missing items is to provide spuial
codes indicating why the data are not included. When the resource is available, the filling
in or imputation of these missing data should undertaken to reduce any biases arising
from their absence. '
I
. Controlling the quality of fieldwork is carried out in several ways, most often through
several observation or redoing a small sample of interviews by supervisory or senior
personnel. There should be some questionnaire-by-questionnaire checking, while the
survey is being earned oul, this is essential if omission or other obvious mistakes in the
data are to be uncovered before it too late to fix them,
6;4
Judging the Quality of Surveys
Non-response is nearly inevitable for most surveys because some member of the survey
will refuse to answer despite every reasonable effort has been made by the survey takers.
Survey problems lead to either of two effects on the survey results. Bias is the tendency
. for findings to b~ off the mark in projecting from the sample to what is happening to the
population as a whole. Variance, on the other hand is a less predictable effect that may
cause projections t6 be higher one time but lower the next. Survey non-response often
biases survey results because it makes the sample less representative of population. For
example, there tends to be an overrepresentation of female respondents in the survey of
the general pubic because women arc usually more likely to participate than men. Most
. preventative remooies for non-response are tied to the fact that its biasing effect on survey
result is lowest when the percentage of the eligible members of the sample who
participate (i.e. response rate) is high. A potential partial remedy of non-response is to
replace the missing answers with a suitable substitute one that is chosen at random from
_other similar participants who answered the questions. A measurement problem occurs
when the answer provided by the responded do not match the data actually nooded.
6.5
Designing a Questionnaire
As the survey team approaches the point of constructing specific questions, they must
. whether the questions should be seif-administered or interviewer-administered. The
essential task is to convey the same information to all respondents about what is wanted.
Questions can be formatted open ended or close ended responses. For exampie, "How
many cups of coffee did you drink yesterday?" Open-ended Response (specifYnrnnber?)
and close-ended response (circle one: None, 1,2,3,4,5, More). Close ended questions
mush exhaust the entire range of answers. These choices must by mutually exclusive so
that a single answer can not fail in more than one category.
To design a good question, it is crucial that ail the concepts be clear and simply
expressed. The designer must think about how the answer to the question wiil be
processed and prepared for analysis. If there are terms with precise or technical meaning
_that everyone shouid use, these definitions must be included in the questionnaire and
respondents should be instructed in them.
6.6
What is a Margin of Error
Surveys are typically
, designed to provide an estimate of the true value of one or more
. characteristics of a population at given time. But an estimate value is unlikely to exactly
equal to the true population quantity of interest for various reasons. For one thing, the
question may be badly worded or responded may refuse to participate or may not tell the
truth. These are sources of non-sampling error.
Even all the non-s~pling
error could be eliminated, the estimate will differ from true
. value becausc data in a survey are collected from only some but not ali members of the
popuiation to make the data collection cheaper or faster, usuaily both. Such occummce
might arise due to sampling error meaning that results in the sample differ from the a
target population quantity, simply due to luck of the draw. The Margin of Error is a
common summary of sampling error that quantifies the uncertainty about survey results.
The margm of error can be interpreted by making use of ideas from the laws of
prohability or the laws of chance.
In a scientific survey every person in the population has some known positive probability
of being selected for the sample and the probability of any particular sample being chosen
can be calculated. The probability sample not only avoids bIases that might arises If the
samples were selected based on the whims of interviewer but it also provides a basis for
estimating sampling error. The laller property enables investigators to calculate a margin
of error. To be precise, the laws of probability make it possible to calculate intervals of
the form estimate :I; margin of error, Such intervals are sometimes called 95 percent
confidence intervals and would be expected to contain the true value of target quantity (in
the absence ofnon~sampling error) at least 95 percent of the time. An important factor in
determining margin' of error is the size of sample. Large samples are more likely to yield
results close to the target populatio'n and thus have smaller margin of error than modest. sized sample.
Three things that affect the margin of error are sample size, the type of sampling done and
the size of the population. The size of the sample crucial factor affecting the margin of
error (margin of error is 10 for sample size 100 and 4.5 for 1000) where as size of
population has little influence on the margin of error (Sample size 100 in a population of
10 thousand will have the almost same margin of error as a sample size of 100 in a
JX?pulationof I0 million.
There is no simple and direct method of estimating the size of non-sampling errors. In
most cases, the analyst can state that for example, the errors are probably relatively small
. W).dwill not affect most conclusions drav.mfrom the survey, or that the errors may be
fairly large and inferences arc to be made with caution. Non-sampling errors can be
c1~sified into two groups i.e. random types or errors whose effects approximately cancel
out if fairly large samples are used, and biases which tend to create errors in the same
direction and thus cumulate over the entire sample. With largc samples, the possible
biases'are the prmcipai causes for concern about the quality of a survey.
!
Biases can arise from any aspect of the survey operation. Some of the main contributing
causes of bias are:
1. Sampling operations : There may be errors in sample selection, or part of the
popnlation may be omitted from the sampling frame, or weights to compensate for
'disproportionate sampling rates may be omitted.
2. Non-interviews : Information is generally obtained for only part of the sample.
Frequently there are differences between the non interview population and those
interviewed.
,3. Adequacy of respondent:
Sometimes respondents cannot be interviewed and
information is obtained about them from others, but the "proxy" respondent is not always
lI.'lknowledgeable about the facts.
4. Understanding the concepts: Some respondents may not understand what is wanted.
,
. S.~Lack of knowledge:
Respondents in some cases do not know the information
requested, or do not try to obtain the correct infonnation.
6. Concealment of the truth : Out of fear or suspicion of the survey, respondents may
conceal the truth. In some instances, this concealment may reflect a respondent's desire to
answer in a way that is socially acceptable, such lI.'lindicating that s(he) is carrying out an
. energy conservation program when this is not actually so.
7: waded questions: The question may be worded to influence the respondents to answer
in a specific (not necessarily correct) way.
8. Processing errors : These can include coding errors, data keying, computer
programming errors, etc.
9. Conceptual problems: There may be differences between what is desired and what the
,
survey actually covers. For example, the population or the time period may not be the one
for which information
is needed, but had to be used to meet a deadline.
,
. 10.
, Interviewer errors: Interviewers may misread the question or twist the answers in
- their
O'Mlwords and thereby introduce bill.'l
,
6.7
Survc)'on VAS
The ~ple
!ize oflhi! survey i! 200. Survey i! carried out on random Sllmpling method.
"Thtte IlI'eloud 6 questions about respondrnts'
informalion i.e. respondenl'S gender. IIge,
Soeio-Economie Code (SEC), residrntill1 IlrelI, monthly income and starting of mobile
uSllge. Tottll 30 questions IlI'e on Value Added Sen'iccs (VAS) whieh can be classified
into two ClIlegories i.e. 13 questions about subseribcrn pereeption or awareness on VAS
.~
6.8
remaining qUestions on VAS uSllge patlem sltIrting from 2003 to 2007.
Rcspondents' Informntion
6.8.1 Rnpondents'
. The respondmt's
Gender Group:
age group is Shollo'llin Table-6.1 lind Figure 6.1. Though the survey WllS
carried oul ill D random sample method major portion (77%) respondent's
are female.
This is quile noJmllI also as the first mobile possessed in II family belongs to family leader
i.e. father.
Tnble 6.\: Respondents' Gender Group
Gender
,
Result
Male
154
b.Femme
46
II.
Though now D days, il becomes a comrtll)n phenomenon that each flUllily member of
fllIllily members ,"ill have hiSlber own mobile specially in rurnI area but residential area
of 65% respondmts nrc rurnI or sub-urban area.
•
Figure 6.1: Respondents' Gender Group
. 6.8.2 Respond~nu'
AJ:~ Group:
At the beginning of the mobile phone, only fnmily-leader possessed used mobile phone
but now a dnys mobile usage is increased at notiCCllble trend which also reflected in
Table-6.2 and Figure-6.2.
Table 6.2: Respondents' Age Group
A eGrou
D.Below 18 Yrs
b.18-25Yrs
e. 26-35 Yrs
d. Above 35 Yrs
Rnult
28
70
78
24
Though major panion of the respondents' are in 18-25 YCllJ'Sage group, below 18 ycnrs is
also is II good number. Another relISOnof this pattern ig that younger people lire more
interested 10 p:ll1icipnte in survey:
""
-
,."
_"'In
.~"~'In
II.
go. _,
•••
lid _
•••••
Figure 6.2: Respondents' Age Group
6.8.3 Rnpondents'
Sorlo-Eronomle
Cod~ (SEC):
Socia-Economic Code (SEC) ig nn index which is dctamincd
based on edUClltionnilevel
nnd profession. Clasg "A" indicates superior SEC. Standard toble on SEC has been used
in this slll"'~y and the result an: shown in Table-6.3 and Figure-6.3.
Table 6.3: Respondents' SEC
Rnult
SEC
A
B
70
C
"
26
D
21
E
14
"
Though the major ponion of respondents is from class-A, but it also includes class-D and
E a.!Imobile usage spread oul in nIl work.olofHfe.
----~"~.:.:.=.:.~.:.:~~,:.:."':~:;~,_::::'----.,
••
•
1-----:
~
••
Figure 6.3: Respondents' SEC
,
6.8.4 Rcspondcnt~'
1bc rapondent's
Residential An'll:
rr:sidcnlinIllreil is shown in Table-6.4and
Figure 6.4.
Tobie 6.4: Respondents' Respondents Residenlilll Areo
Tvpe or Am
Result
o. Ruro1llre1l
92
b. Sub-urbon area
c. Urblm Ilrell
"
70
To have lllI ovemll idea on VAS lISlIge in Bllllgllldesh, the survey has been carried OUI
both urban and ruml area The major ponions of the respondents (46%) reside in ruml
:_=':M:.~----.,
-----.~":.:_=.:.:"~.:
.•
•
'
--""
.o.__ o~...-_
,
.
'l.j ..•.
".•••.•.
l~:
-
-..;
DO __
-
Figure 6.4: Respondents' Respondents Residential Area
6.8.5 Respondents'
Monlhl)'lnrome
(TJC.):
1bc low acquisition cost of mobile phone Illld low tllriff enable people from all work5 of
life 10 hllve mobile phone which is reflected on Tllble-6.S and Figure-6.S.
"
Table 6.5: Respondents' Monthly Income (11<.)
Monthl lnrome
a. Nom:
b. <5 000
e.5,ool-10.000
d.IOOOI-20ooo
e. >20 000
Result
l'
"
"
46
29
A major ponion (35%) of respondents having either no-income or very low monthly
income (Tk 5,(00) use mobile phone.
..••..•.....,
-.
Oo.lU01-'o.coo
Od '0.""-:10.""
••
>:It\OO>
Figure 6.5: Respondents' Monthly Income (TK.)
6,8.6 RfSpondents'
St.rtlnc
Dr Mobile usage:
. Though mobile phone started in Bangladesh in 1997, the revolution SUlttOOafter 2003. So
the
)'C31
2003
10 2007
is selected in the SIIJ'VeY
to ha,'e usage patter on VAS usnge.
TlIble 6.6: Respondents' SlllTIingof Mobile uSllge
Ytar or USlll!t
a.2oo3 b.2004
e.2oo5
d.2006
e.2oo7 +
Resull
10
30
"
16
32
The lIllIjor ponion of the respondents (54%) SUltted using mobile phone from 2005 which
is shown in Table-6.6I1Dd Figure-6.6.
••
o.o.-
" •.""'" H
n-
••. m»')
Figure 6.6: Respondents' Stluting of Mobile USllge
6.9
Questions on VAS
6.9.1 Wbnt ~ tbe main benefit of SMS?
1bc objective of this question is to gel an idea about eustomer perception
of Slwl1
Message Service (SMS) usage.
Tnble 6.7 : What is ~
o
main benefit ofSMS?
tlon~
II. Chen
r thnn \'oice call
level
b. Cnn be sent/received in
c. Con be used in meclin
d. Above 1111
Most of ~
Rrsult
70
46
SO
34
IlSet$ Ill'Cnot a.•••
'3Z'Cof ~
Ildlllll or Dll utility of SMS which is ~f1cctcd in
Table-6.7 and Figufe-6.7. Though ~
COrTCCtansv.-er is d, most of the IlSet$ (83%)
ansv.-ered wrong or partilllly true .
..•.•.~-_
.• -_
_ .........•.
"'"
u
•••. __
"'" •• _
•..••••..•
•••.• 50 ••" """
Figure 6.7 : Whnt is the main benefit ofSMS?
"
6.9.2 Which o(the (ollem'lng ~el"'dces am be ••.• iled 'II. SMS?
. This queslion includes dilTermt service!! CDDbe availed using Short McsSllge Service
(SMS) nnd the objective of this queslion is to eheck euslomcr a••••
'IlrentSS about these
TobIe 6.g : Which oflhc following services can be availed via SMS?
Senice T)'pc
Banking
Chatting
Bills PlIY
News
VOling in compt'lilion
E1l:nmRcsult
lntemel Browsi,!!L
Emllil
RC$ult
28
24
40
"
18.
180
10
8
Most of the users IlI'e not 1I••••
'lIfe of 1111SMS utility which is reflected in TlIble-6.8 lIlld
Figure-6.8. Though the correct tlllSWef is all excepl NBrowsing" but most of the users
,
opled fOf only two services (above 90%) lIlld 5% users nnswered wrong.
---
~.
~
,~
C'<._
--..
_
- ..
,-,.
-,
.
Figure 6.8 : Which of the following services con be availed via SMS?
,
6.9.3 How m.ny SMS do )'ou send pu month?
1bc objective of this question is to get on ideo lIbom usnge of Short Message Snvices
(SMS) in diffcrent ye8l1l5lllrting from 2003 ti1l2007. There nrc five allegorics dcpending
on number of SMS sending per month i.e. None, 1-30, 31-.60, 61-150 and above 150.
The good thing is that the SMS usage increnscd in every ycar in all allcgories. ClIlcgory
NNonc" fnlls drastieo.1ly in 2005 rmd most of the users likc 10 Sl:nd 1-30 SMS per month
which is reflccted in TlIble-6.9 and Figure-6.9.
"
Table 6.9 : How many SMS do you send per month?
e;(31.:.@~. ,;(1:'61"-,:"]"50
a, e.
_..
- .. '-0
0
0
0
0
0
8
2
0
22
18
0
28
18
0
-' Il!f "U:-None
2003
2004
2005
2006
2001
5
16
18
44
10
aool'c,I SO' ,
NOl'!1lllllzalionof u~cr number:
The mobile users in 5 yclll'S••••
'eTCdifferent i.e. 10 USC~in 2003 where as 76 in 2006 out
ofsur\-'cycd 200 f'e'pondcnts which is shown in Tl!lhlc-6.6and Figw"Ni.6. To visualize the
usage ptltlcm in the ehnrt, it is I'C«SS"ty 10 comptIrC:the usage on common reference. So
numbers of users are normalized to 200 in CIIchyear.
SMSl/'Ii:3ge (~ed
10200usersIn~
y~
__
lSO
100
•• -.-.,
•••
I
•L
ro
-----_
--.
••
••••
__ ••••
-_ •••
- ••••
,
O,N_
<
•..•••• b. \.30
_____
"".'-h. _..'';_..,
.
__
<:.31-80
__
d,a1.1SO
__
o,'bo'ool50
Figure 6.9 : How many SMS do )'ou send per month?
6.9." Whllt IJ;the mlllD beDcfit o(MMS (Multimedill Sen-'iec)?
The objectiVeof this question is to get an idea about customer perception of Multimedia
MesSllgeServiee (MMS) usage,
Table 6.10 : Whnt is the main benefit ofMMS?
Rl.'5ult
24
12'
42
10
Most of the users nee not aware of the actUll!or all utility of MMS which is reflected in
Tl!lble-6.IO and Figure-6.10. Though the correct allSwer is b, 0 good number of
respondents (38%) l!lIISWem1
wrong.
.,
.•...-,..,...
,
~"----- .-~
II
eo a-
then •••••••
w
• b Un,cI
r••.•encli'1Il
~r
.•••
o e,can belenllonrr""""'-l
vIo""1_.CIl
o d, A.batIo a'I
Figure 6.10: What is the mllin benefit ofMMS?
6.9.5 How m.n}' MMS do )'OU send ~r month?
1bc objectiVe of this question i~to get an ide:a nbout usnge of Multimedia
Messngc
Services (MMS) in different )"etIB starting from 2003 ti1l2l107. Thar arc: five categories
depending on number of MMS sending per month i.e. None, I-IS, 16-30,31-90 Illld
above 90.
'Tobie 6.11 : How =y
2003
2004
200'
2006
2007
-- :i':ritone,
_!:, :c.J~J_
)":)-1'5
6
22
42
0
0
8
"'
70
MMS do you send per month?
0
0
0
0
6
,,-
12.
_ :..3.1-90
0
0
0
0
0
- e:RbOvC90.
0
0
0
0
0
-
The MMS usage in 2003 lllld 2004 is zero lIS MMS "•.as not Inunched III that time. The
good thing is thnt the MMS usngc increased in every year almost in ull categories.
Category "None" fnlls drustiCDlly in 2005 nnd mo:;t of the users like to send 1-15 MMS
--..
per month which is reflected in TnblM.ll and Figure-6.11.
l"""""lh:ad
~
,.
to lIlO ••••• In •••• 1)'
.---.----.-_. - .•.•.•...
I .~
..__ .. - •.....•••...
,. ..................... ....._--_._ ...
•
• ,..-.- ... .--- ..- ..... - ~ . .......
~
-- •
"0""
• =
.-
•
""--•.tI_
__
b. 1.15
__
Co1&030
__'
- - -_
,..0"
,
_d.31-90
___ e,"-eo
Figure 6.11 : How IIllIlIYMMS do you send per month?
6.9.6 Whlllls lhe m.ln brndil of VMS (Volre MC$ngr Service)?
The objective of lhis question is to get an idea about customer perception of Voice
Mcssngc Service (VMS) USllge,
Tllble 6.12: Whnt is lhc main benefit ofYMS?
h[R~'~"~di~'~"~~~
a. Calling pnrty CIIDleave voice messnge when Called party is not Il,'lliloble 106
'b. Calling party can.send =rded voiee to any oumber
c. Ctl!1io~
CIlI1send Ring Tone \0 any number
d. None ofabo,'e
84
6
4
. Most of lhe users lire not OW8reof the eetUllIor all utility of VMS whieh is reflected in
TlIblc-6.12 and Figurc:-6.12. Though the correct ansV.el"is ".", n good number of
respondents (47%) nns",ercd "TOng.
.'
,,..
".
C II, Qdng pefIY I;IlIlIclrvll voice rres'llIlIl when Cded pefIY b not evldallb
• b.
Cd'lg
PIlrtY CIln In
'KOldlld voice 10 llI'I)'fU'I'be(
eerl lend Rng Tone 10Iltl'I fU'I'be(
C c, t:d"'lI ~
C d, N:InolcI abcIve
Figure 6,12 : Whot is the lJUIinbenefit of VMS?
6.9.7 1I0w mllny VMS do you send per mnntb?
'The objeeti,'e of this question is to get lIDiden Ilbout usage of Voice Message Services
(VMS) in dilTerent)'eatS stnrting from 2003 till 2007. Then: are five entegorics depending
on number of VMS sending per month Le, None, 1-5. 6-10, II-IS IlIldIlbo,'e IS.
Table 6.13 : How mnny VMS do you send per month?
-,
a, None
2003
2004
2005
2006 .
2007
•••"
'"
'"
. <5:1"'-5---::
-• d,11-15
0
0
•,
0
c, above 15 .. •
0
0
0
0
,
0
0
,
0
"••
e. 6~10'.
0
"
"
0
0
The good thing is WI the VMS USll~ increnscd in every year almost in all CDlegories.
Category ~None" falls dmstietllly from 200S and most of the IIStIS like to send 1-S VMS
per month which is refie<:ted in Table-6.IJ and Figt=-6.IJ.
VM8 •••••1IO(normaUud
III zoo ••••• In ••• ..,. ,uri
: .~:~~~::~::::~:::~~","u,::~:::-.-,~
--~
__
,go
•••••••••••••••••••••••••.••.•••
so ••••••••••••••••••••••••
o
• ,.............-:
,6.9.8. How often do )"ou chlnge )'our
_ ••
_;;11
:
••
~,&_1C
".'s
.... _._'S
___
<l
•
Figure 6.13 : How many VMS do )'OUsend per month?
C.ll Back Tone per )'ellr (Welcome Tune)?
The objective of this question is to get an idea about USllge of Caller Ring BDCkTone
(CRBn
in diffell:nt
)'ClI.J"S
starting from 2003 till 2007. "There are five categories
. depending on number ofCRBT
changes per )"tDr i.e. Nom:, 1-5. 6-10, II-IS
and above
1'.
,
Tnble 6.14 : How often do you change your Call BlICkTone per year?
'00-"
--.~::lIl!Im
,b..
1!0:-5!flB!!1!.c.6.,.10.!
, .d. :11.15' ,,,i.~
0.8
W&ldidi! .a~'iiie'IIII!
..Nono
2003
2004
200'
2006
2007
6
0
"
".
36
92
The CRBT USDgeinerused
•
"
"
60
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
0
0
Ye.15'M
in every)"tDI" in the category 1-5 ••••
-hich is ll:fleetcd in Table-
6.14 and Figure-6.l~.
-,.
~
..,~ ................................
, .... . ....
.... . ........ ...
,
••.•...•...••..•..•....•.........••..
••
...
• II................ ~
0
- - - - -
_."'-b, ,~
......_<;.&-'0
___ tl ".IS
-
•
-"
Figure 6.14 : How ollen do )'OUchange your ClllI BDCkTone per year?
••
6.9.9. Ho"," onen do )'ou ~hJlnge your Ring Tone ptr year?
The objective of this question is to get lin idea about usage of Ring Tone in different years
starting from 2003 till 2007. There life live CIItegories depending on number of Ring
Tones ~hanges per year i.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 lind nbove IS.
Tcble 6.1 5: How often do )'ou chnnge your Ring Tone per yeW'?
e. aboVe 15
o
o
2003
2004
200S
2006
2007
o
o
o
The Ring Tone usnge is short of mixed pnttern in every yent' in the category 1-5 which is
reflected in Tnbk-6.15 lind Figure-6.1 5.
•• ...;:: .
•••• ...,
_
••
•••
111C
-.--
o
-+
••••••••••••
•••••••••
---....
~~.
: .1:::::::::
~ -T
.
- ••••••••••••••••••
_.
-
_
~.__
-
. --._,~
.
_0
.
::: ::::::::::
~ ''''Il
-+-c,I--,O
11"~
Figure 6.15; How often do you change YOutRing Tone per yeW'?
6,9,10.
H01\'
onen do you eh.ngelpun:hne
The objective of this qU~Dn
Wnllflaptr
on )'our mobile per )"car?
is to get lI.Didea nbout frequency of ••••
-all paper change in
. different years stnrting from 2003 till 2007. Then: nrc live cntcgories dcpcrnling on
number ofwnil pnper ch4nge per yellCi.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 lUldabove 15.
Table 6,16: How often do )'OUclwlgeJpurcbnsc Wnllpnper on )'Our mobile per yeW'?
2003
2004
200S
2006
2007
,
0
0
20
0
0
"
0
,
0
138
"
0
'"
. e. aOOvll15
"
0
The frequency oflhis VAS usage is ,'ery low at the:begiMing but it is increasing in every
year speciolly in the l:IItegory 1-5 which is reflected in Tllble-6.l6 lI.I1dFigun:-6.l6.
~
,
-
._--_.-.--~._-~~
..-.---_ .._ .._- •• :-------------------------____ oj
•m (-- - - -- -- - - --- - - -- - - - -- - - - - oil
.
-!I
• ,L.::
'
I
•
m
-- .
_t - •• _. _-. __ h. n_~______
•_.' __' •••• _
-
=
=
=
-
_.
-_ ..-••
--..-"
M'
11_,5
Figure 6.16: How often do you changdpllIl:hasc:: Wallpaper on your mobile per year?
6.9.11. How often do )'ou dcm.nlolldlflu~hllSe
mobile gimes per Yellr?
The object.i~ oflhis question is to get an idea about frequency of mobile game dO\\'tIload
. in different yellfS stDning from 2003 till 2007. Then: llR: five categories depending on
nwnber of mobile game download per year i.e. None, 1-5,6-10.
....•
~;~-I'
2(0)
,
,b.1~5,
2004
20
2
200S
""2
36
.a.Nonll._
2006
2007
II-IS and Ilbo,'I: 15.
o
'"
,
52
The frequency of this VAS uSllgc is very low lit the beginning but it is increasing in every
,
'
)'ear specially in the, l:IItegory 1-5 which is reflected in Tllble-6.17 nod Figure-6.17.
~
.-
m
,,1---
,. '- .
-
.......••••
: ..•....•••..•
-
_._ ...... _.~..._--_ ..
_-- -- -
•
,_h
!- - ....... _._ ...._ ..... - ... - ..........
'" I....... __ .----. ...- ...
•I
• = - -- =
-
-- -
- -
_.
-.-••
-_ ..-"
__
c,&-IO
11.15
Figure 6.17: How often do you downlondlpurchnse mobile games per year?
••
"
6.9.12. lIow oRen do you check your borouopc u5ln~ mobile phoDe per month?
The objective of this question b 10 get lllI idell about frequency of horo~pe
check in
different ycnr.; stllrting from 2003 till 2007. There lU'e five cntegorie5 depending
numbl:r o(horoscope
on
check per month Le. None. 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and above 15.
Tllble 6.18: How often do you check your horoscope using mobile phone per month?
o
o
6
'"
"
".
•
.
.
d, 11~15\iiI!I,
otabOvo
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
,
"
"
"
26-10"
.151m
o
o
o
o
o
. The frequency ormis VAS USlIgeis very low at 1M:beginning. Though hut it is irn:mL5ing
.
in every )VJ1 specinlly in the ClItegory 1-5 hut o"crall increase is very low which is
reflected in Table-idS llIId Figun:-6.l8.
~
.----.".~
,~ i. ~•.••...__
loa
!.
..c.".".~.'"'C'~'~'
'e.:
0
""''''
: ......•...•...
.'.~
__ _ __.__
• i....
-
••...
.....]
J
_.__
b.Hi
..-,n
. _-c
-..-d '1-1~
-._,~
•
lFigun: 6.18: How often do you check your horoscope using mobile phone per month?
•
6.9.13. lIow ofte'n do yOli take nC'WJJervitt u,iog mobile pbooe per month?
TIle objective of this question is 10 get IllI idea nbout frequency of news service I1$lIgein
diffen:nt )'elU'll slllrting from 2003 till 2007, TIlere nrc five categories depending on
number of news seMcc usage pet' month i,e. Nnne, 1-5,6--10, 11-15 and nbove 15.
••
,
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
The
vCl)' low ot the beginning but is incrnsil\{l every year
, frequency oflhi, VAS IISllgci~
specially in the eutegory 1-5 wbieh is reflected in Tnble-6.19 nnd Figure-6.19.
~
~
, - ..•.. ..--- - -- - -. - -,- - .._---_. --------
•• ................... .~ .. ---_ ....
,
_ ....
..
..
.
_.
..
..
..
...
.
.....
.
.
•• ,
• ,...................... ........ - ...
-
•
-
••
.
••
••
-
_ ._-.._ ..
-6-1>-1-&
•...••_e.&-10
".,~
Figun:: 6.19: How often do you take news service using mobile phone per month?
,
6.9.14. How often do )'01,1download rrclpe using mobile phone per month?
The people lll'e vcry much aware ullom recipe now n days IllId n lot of prognuns are being
broadcasting in TV ehllJUlels almost cveI'}'day. The objective of this question is to gel M
iden about frequency of recipe downlOlld though mobile phone in different yenrs stnrting
. from 2003 till 2007. There are five C3legones depending on number of recipe do ••••.
nIOlld
per month i.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, ll-IS
2003
2004
2005,
2006
2007
,
nnd above IS.
,
,
,
,
22
"
'"
".
2
- bIt''''fs
e
,
,
,
,
,
'C.'6
The frequency of this VAS usage is very low nt the beginning. Though but it is increasing
in every }'Cll1~inlly
,
.
in the category 1-5 but ovemll inerease is very low whieh is
. n:flected in Table-6.20 nnd Figun:-6.20.
"
~
,.
,
,
,
,.~ ....... .
.
•
.. • ,
,. I.
-.---- .._ ...•.•... _. __ .....
• I.................. - ••.•..•...- .......
•
~
,
,
••
-+
••
+ ••••
-
,
,
,
- - •
•
Fi~
~
=
-.-.
_.
0<
__
••••••0
-.-"
".,~
=
6.20; How often do you doy.'11load recipe using mobile phone per month?
6.9.15. How oRcn do )'OUdO'A'nlud jokes u!iOIl mobile phone per month?
Usually the sense of humor of the people of Bnnglndesh is high. The objective of this
question is 10 gco lin idea nbout frequency of joke download though mobile phone in
different years starting from 2003
1m
2007. There lU'e five categories depending on
number of jokes download per month i.e. None, 1-5,6-10,
11-1 S WIdabove 15.
Table 6.21: How often do )'OUdo .•••
nlondjokes using mobile phone per month?
2003
2004
200'
2006
2007
e. abovo 15
•22
0
0
••
0
".
"
38
158
0
0
. The frequency ormis VAS usage is very low 81 the beginning. Though but it is inansing
in every yeM specially in the category 1-5 but Dvemll increase is very low which is
reflected in Toble-6.21 lind Figure-6.21.
~
_. -
.. • .' -.....,. " ..,....... ...
....
- ..... - ••.•.•....•.••••....•...... - .. __ •.Il-'.
,. ..- ..._----_._ ..-.- ...... _-.-_ .......
,.
~
"
_ .-"
--0
H
_~_d 11_15
•
0
•
•••
-
=
_ ••
_____
-
-
••••
0 __
••
__
•
_.
__
-
..
=
•
.. ....
,
=
Figure 6.21: How oRen do )'OUdownloadjokeJI using mobile: phone per month?
"
6.9.16. How ofttn do )'ou send fllvourllt song ')'our r'ttonkd
Imonlb?
l"oll:(' 10 someont
Tht people of Brmgledesh IIIl: vel)' mueh fond of music. We have huge eolleclloD9 of
vurious songs depending
on different DIltional or religious evenls i.e. vielol)' dllY,
. InlenllltioJllll mother Ill1lgUllgelilly, fWnzIdllll etc. etc. The objective of this question Is to
get lIDidea about frequency of song dediClltion though mobile phone to beloved persons
in different yenrs suuting from 2003 till 2007. 1beTt are five categories depending on
number of song dedication per month i.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, II-IS
Illld above IS.
o
o
o
o
o
200'
2004
2005
200'
2007
The frequency of this VAS usage Is vel)' low lit the beginning. Though but it is inerusing
in every year specinlly In the categOI)' 1-5 bm ovcmll inerense is vel)' low which Is
reflected in Tnble-6.22 IIDdFigure-6.22.
m
~I
,•• 11.,'
!I
-
.__
_
__
11
I
:=:'::
c.••.••o
--------.-------------------.------II
__ 4 ""5
!O1.:.--.------------._----- .. -... --.---:1 ---. _,5
'l'O
!..
•U
-
.!
Figure 6.22: How ofttn do )'ou send favourite song /your recorded voice to someone?
6.9.17.lIow
often do )'ou use Mobile Internet per monlh?
Internet becomes a pan end parcel of OUTdnily life specially of the high professional OT
businessmen. The objective of this question is to get IllI idea about frequency of internet
use though mobile phone In different years starting from 2003 till 2007. Thrn: are five
. entegories depending on number ofintemct usage per month I.e. None, 1-5,6-10,
end above IS.
"
11-15
Table 6.23 : How often do you usc Mobile Internet per month?
,
e.G-O';.
..
0
0
0
0
0
0
,
0
0
0
0
0
is handset
d. 11-15-
e. above 15' '"
0
0
0
"
'"
'"
'"
Iv; this serviee
,
and nel.•••.
on
dcpendent
i.c. network
should
provide
GPRSIEDGE service and handset should have this features, so usngc of this VAS is very
.low whieh is reflected in Tllblc-6.23 and Figure-6.23.
=
=
,
...,
. .- -
-
.._--- .. •
•
••
.•• ---_._ .._-- -_ ..-.-- - • ........................... - - ... -
•
•
=
.- -.
-.-"
•
.... - .......................
.--
- :-
- •
A
~
__
tL 1-6
•••• _c.&-10
11_15
•
=
Figure: 6.23 : How often do ).ou use Mobile Internet per month?
6.9.18. Whot I~).our opinion obout toriff of Intrrnrt
uslnll Mobile phone?
,In vie\>,'to eheck the customcr perception llbout VAS tarilTsomc questions an:: included in
this survey. As the internct users through mobile phones arc: ,.ery low lISshown in Figure623. the opinion .llbout tarilTis short of mixed pattern.
T.IIble6.24 : What is your opinion .llbouttariff ofIntemct uslng Mobile phone?
o Inlnn
.II.Too ex
ive
Result
64
b. Reasonnble
S8
e. Too Cheop
d. No comments
0
78
A major portion of the: respondents (39%) did not l\llSWCl"
and comment 002%
subscriber
is that Internet tariff is too high. In (ftCto\'emll intcrnet tariff (other thIln mobile) is high in
B~g1adesh as a =It
mobile intcrnet is wso expensive ••••
ilich is reflceted in Tnble-6.24
l!l!d Figure-6.24.
"
CIO T••• _
••••
• !>.R ••• _
D<: T••
cr-;.
Dd,Ho~_
Figure'6.24': What is your opinion about tnrifTofintemet using Mobile phone?
6.9.19. What i, )'our opinioo aboultariIT of SMSIMMSNMS?
The object of this question is to check the customer perception about wilT of
SMSfMMSNMS.
Tobie 6.25 : What is your opinion about wiff ofSMSfMMSfVMS?
Opinion
a. Too
~
h. Reasonnble
c.TooC~
d. No comments
Rt"ult
90
66
4
40
. Though SMS tnrifTis1ittle bit cheap but MMSNMS is still quite high. So II major portion
of users an: still not comfortable with the wiff of SMSfMMSNMS which is reflected in
Tablc-6.25 and Figure-6.25.
.
'..
•••
..
~
CII. T•• _
.J
••••
.~ Ral_
D<:T..,cr-p
DdHo~m..,"
:10)'1<,
".,
, ••
'!'
~,
•• ,.
< •••••
Figure 6.25 : What is your opinion about uuilTofSMSIMMSNMS?
6.9.20. What 15lour opinion about tarirr oflofoJEoter1alnment
VAS (Ring tone et~.)
The object of thi5 question is to check the customer perception nbout ttuirr of Info or
Entertainment VAS i.e. Ring Tone, Culler Ring Back Tone, Song dedi~alion etc.
Tabl~ 6.26 : WJw is your opinion about torirr ofInfo/EnlCrtllinrnenl
o Inion
a. Too c:l:pensive
b. Reasonable
c.TOO~~
d. No comments
VAS?
RC5ult
146
18
0
J6
Though people have accepted this VAS very mll<:hbut most ofthcm (73%) ~
not hllppy
on the toriffwhich is ~flected in Tablc-6.26 and Figure-6.26.
0.100_""
• b R_onaIIlo
"~~
Oc.
r•• c,,-
Od Ho"""rTMnIs
..
Figure 6.26 : Wlutl i5 your opinion about tnriffofInfoJEntCTUlinment VAS?
6.9.21.Ib~'('
lOU a('th .• ttd your MCA to get ml~td ('olilofo when phone 15OFF?
In view to check the customer perception flhoul some useful VAS, some questions Ill'C
included in this survey. The objective of this question is to get lID idea about thc
functionnlly ofMisscd Call AIm (MCA).
Table 6.27: Have YOIlactivated )'OUfMCA?
[Op~~;'~;O~'~~~~~=~R~=~
~fI. Do not know MCA
92
b. Yes
c. No
64
44
BlIt it is rcally disappointing that fI rtUljorportion of people (46%) do not know about this
S1:lViceand acti\lfltion of this S1:lViceis also very low (32%) which is rdlected in Tflble6.27 and Figure-6.27.
"
..-
•••'"
".,OO __
loCA
o.~
FigUfe 6.27: Hove )'OUIlCtivnled your MeA?
6.9.22, 00 you know thnt )'OUcan 2et 24 houn Ide-medicine
semel'
u~ing mobile?'
As II part of getting the customer pen::eption llboul some useful VAS, some questions are
included in this survey. 1lIc objeell\'e of this question is to gel lID idea about the
1lWUl'rneSS
ofTde-medicine
service,
Table 6.28 : Do you know that you can gel 24 hours Ide-medicine
service using mobile?
~O~p~I".I~";;"====!}R~~;:,.'[I~
a. Yes
68
b. No
132
Bul it is really diSllppoinling that 11major portion of people (66%) do nOllmow aboul this
service which is n::f1ecled in Tllble-6.28 ond Figure-6.28 .
.,
. ; .- ,.
".,
.
•
Figun:: 6.28 : Do you know lhal you can get 24 hours Icle-medicine service using mobile?
6.9.23. How oRen do you take tde-medlclne
lef'\'iee u~lng mobile per )'ellr?
The objective of this question is 10 gel an idea ooout frequency of Illking lele-medicine
service in different )'enrs starting from 2003 till 2007, There nrc five CIllegories depending
on number of service per year i.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, 11-1 S ond aoove 15. The frequency
of this VAS usage is \'ery low 01 the beginning.
Tllble 6.29 : How often do you take tde-medicine
servi~?
bove15'
2003
2004
6
0
0
22
2005
0
0
0
"
2006
2007
"2
160
1bough but it is increasing in every year specinlly in the category 1-5 but ovcmll incrnsc:
is \'Cf)' low "..ruch is rdlccted in Tnble-6.29 lind Fi~-6.29.
~
.,.
~
,
..., ,
,
_.
•...
~
~
~
~
~
- .......... ~
,
........ __ •.•.................
-
___ I> \-6
......... ..... _ .. .. .- ..............
_
..~............................j
.
.
• I~....~
•
- - -
--
----.•..•.,~
-.-"
11-15
Figure 6.29 : How often do you we tele.medieine service?
6.9.24. How mony Conrerrnee
eill do )'ou make pt'r month?
The objective of this question is to get l1IIidrll nbout frequency of conference cnll in
dilTtrtnt yelll'S starting from 2003 till 2007. There are five categories depmding
number orserviee peTmonth i.e. None. 1-5,6-10,
on
11-15 IlJIdabove 15.
Table 6.30 : How rntIlly Conference cnil do you make per month?
.Jl-1S
20036
e.sbove15
00
2004
2005
22
oW
0
0
0
0
2006
2007
122
150
0
0
0
0
1bough the freq~ncy
oflhis VAS U5!ge is very low lit the beginning but it is incrensing
in every year spcciolly in the category 1-5 which is ~TIieh is reflected in Tnblc-6.30 lind
Figure-6.30.
"
_. -.
'.
..
_....
-.
_
.'
m
m
-- ,
'.,. I. _
......
,
------.
- -
..- ...__ ...._ ..-~
,
- --•
I,........... - .. - - - I
-- - - ..... ... - .
C,O-,~
-"
-----
• L.
•
__
,
-
"_IS
,
Figure 6.30 : How many Confen:nec call do }'OU lIlllke pet' month?
. 6.9.25. How mloy prople ClIO1.lk in roofcrt'ore e.1I?
In view to check the customer pel'a'ption nbout some useful VAS, some questions are
included in this survey. 'The objective arthis quc:stion is to gclllll idell about the number
orparticipan~ in conference call.
Tnble 6.3\ : How rnWlYpeople can tall.: in conference call?
Options
b.4
R"ull
112
24
d
12
n. Do nOI know
,
d.6
44
e. 10
Most of the users nre not n••••
me of the actual utility of conference call which is reflected
in Toble-6.31 nnd Figure-6.31. 1bough the
00=
IlllS\\'CT
is d. n large number of people
(44%) IInSwered wrong.
~l
. .......,
II. Do""O~
I . ~
.
•••
0"
0",
II.
10
Figure 6.31 : How many people can talk in conference coll?
••
6,9.26. Whlll h lhe mllin benefit of h.,'log Intemll.tion.1 ROllmln~?
The objecth'e of this question is to get an idea about the usnge of IntemationaJ Roaming.
. Most of the users an: 1I\\'m'Cof the llttual utility of International Roaming which is
reflected in Table-6.32 and Figure-6.32.
Table 6.32 : WJm is the main benefit of having International Roaming?
Options
11.It is very ehenp
b. Same number can be used dwing tmvelin OVC1SetlS
c. SIUIlenumber con be used dwing troveling in whole Bangladesh
d. Above all
Result
4
122
64
10
The eolTCClanswer is b and 61% users hnvc given colTCClanswer.
lifIP""
I
-
a •. 1l1s\lll,yc!lnp
• b. s.m. nlllTlbel CIOnbe und dullng R\lll1lng
C
O'er1en
<t s.m. number CIOnbe lind dllMg 1Ie1lllllngIn whOle 61ng~h
Cd.~.U
Figure 6.32 : What is the main bc:nefitoflutving IntemationaJ ROlIffiing?
,
6.9.27: !low often rODI.ke Intem.tion.l
.
,
RoamIng service per).",r?
The objective of this question is to gel an idea about frequencr of laking Intemationnl
Roaming service in different years staning from 2003 1il12oo7. Then: on: five ClIlegories
. depending on number of service per)'C1ITi.e. None, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and nbovc 15.
Tnble 6.33 : How often you UlkeIntemntionnl Roaming service per ytlll"?
..
2003
,
2004
22
200S
2006
2007
.11.
None
••
'"
'"
lC..6"'lb __
'd.'11~15._
e.llbOve-1S::J
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
"
0
0
0
~b._1:;5
"
The frequeney of this VAS usage is very low Ilt the beginning. Though but it is inereasing
in every year specially in the category \-5 but ovcrnll inert'llSe is very low which is
. reflected in Tllble-6.33 IID.dFigure-6.33.
-- _____________________
J
~
m
,
Lh'
1
,
•
........ . .- - . . .... _ •......... __ ...
........ - ... - .••..•..•. .- ..... .- - .- ..
. . .. ........ _ ..._ ...... - ..
••
••
-
--
•
• ••
••
I
••
••
_.-._.
_ ._ ..
__
••
c.11-10
"~'$
••
Figure 6.33 : How often you lllke International ROllffiing serviec per yeM!
6.9.28. How ol"len do ).ou send Eman (SMS email) using Mobile phone per month?
As the u$llge of direct internet is net••••
,ork or handset dependent. SMS email could be the
n1lcTlUlleoption to send emnil using SMS without hnving GPRSfEDGE feature either in
network Dr hnndset. The objective of this question is to get lID.idea obout frequency of
lIlking SMS Email service in different yenrs stllrting from 2003 till 2007.
TobIe 6.34 : Ho ••••.
often do you send Emllil (SMS email) using per month?
_'-r.'
,8, NOrM!
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
"b.J,;S
.
_~.,
:c.:s,..10 .d'.1.b.15.
.e ..llboVll.15,
6
22
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
50
0
0
0
0
146
4
0
0
0
160
20
0
0
0
!\
There Ilrt five cntegories depending 00 nwnber of service per year I.e. None, 1-5, 6-10.
•
•
11-15 and obovc 1S. The frequency oflhis VAS usage is very low lit the beginning and
.
.
the inerease: nile is also very unsntisfoctory which is reflected in Tllble-6.34 llJId Figure6.34.
=
: I:::'
1110
I.
• I..
.
.'
•
: :~:'::::::~::~
.
-•
•
Figure 6.34 : How oftm do you smd ErtUlil (SMS email) using per month?
6.9.29. An: )'OUusiOI; mobllr h.ndsd
As some of VAS
life
bll,inl; GPRSIEDGE
reature?
Iutndset dependent i.e. MMS. Internet etc, the objective of this
• qlJC'Stion is to get an idea lIboul customers' hzwdSd. whether it has GPRSIEDGE
fentum;
or not.
Table 6.35 : Are you using mobile handset hYing GPRSIEDOE fCIIlure?
Options
• y~
b. No
RC'5ull
76
124
A major portion (62~o) oCthe users hils the handsets ••••
ilhout GPRSlEDGE features ••••
tlieh
is reflected in Tllblc-6.J6l11ld Figure-6.36. For the szune reason, MMS or Internet usage is
also low.
"
Figure 6.35 : Are you using mobile handsel having GPRSIEDGE feature?
"
.6.9.30. What are the other VAS do )'ou "'ant in futun?
As nil the VASs \\!hich nrc tlvniltlble in developed countries
nrc nOI avniluble in
Bnngladesh, On<:question is ineluded in this sut\'CY to get customer expectlltion about
fUI~VAS.
Tuble 6.36: What nrc the other VAS do you wnnl in future?
QptlonJ
M-eommeree
Mobile-TV
Mobile Porta.l
.
,
Result
68
Video CallfConfermcc
130
24
68
Video Telc.services
28
Socitll Net ••••.
orkinll.
26
Video Mllilbox
Mobile network gnme
8
M- Advcnising
36
68
Pun:hasc Ticket
142
Though total 10 (len) VASs arc im:luded in the list, most of the users opted for only 2
. VASs i.e. Mobile TV DIld Ticket pUfthnse which is reflected in Tuble-6.36 DIld Figure6.36,
Figure 6.36 : What arc the other VAS do you WIlllIin future?
CHAPTER
7
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SURVEY ON VAS
7.1
Introductionof Forecasting
Forecasting is a service whose purpose is to offer the best available basis for management
,
expectations of the future and to help management understand the implications for the
fum's future of the alternative courses of action to them at present. The growing
competition, rapidity of change in circumstances and the trend towards automation
demand that decisions in business are not based purely on guesses rather on a careful
analysis of data concerning the future course of events. When estimates of future
conditions are made on a systematic basis, the process is referred to as forecasting and the
figure or statement obtained is known as a forecast. In a world where the future is not
.known with certainty, virtually every business and economic decision rests upon a
forecast of future condition. Forecasting aims at reducing the area of uncertainty that
surrounds management decision making with respect to costs, profits, sales, production,
pricing, capital investment and so on. If future were knOV\lllwith certainty, forecasting
would be unnecessary. But uncertainty does exist, future outcomes are rarely assured and,
,
therefore, organized system of forecasting is necessary.
7;2 . Objectives of Forecasting
It-is obvious that forecasts intelligently used may serve the function of both lighthouse
and compass. However, the object of business forecasting is to determine a curve or series
. of fib'llreSthat will tell exactly what will happen, but it is to make analysis based on
defmite statistical data, which will enable an executive to take advantage of future
conditions to a greater extent than he could do without them. In many respects the future
tends to move llke the past. This is a good thing, since without some element of
continuity between past, present and future, there would be little possibility of successful
prediction. But history is not likely to repeat itself and we would hardly expect economic
cOnditions next year or over the next ten years to follow a clear-cut pattern. Yet,
frequently, past patterns prevail sufficiently to justify using the past as a basis for
prediction of future.
7.3
Task of Forecasting
Forecasting is concerned with two main tasks: first, the determination of the best basis
available for the formation of intelligent managerial expectations and second, the
handling of un~rtainty about the future. so that the implications of decisions become
explicit. The following are main functions offorecasting:
1. The creation of plans of action. 11is impossible to evolve a worthwhile system of
business, control without one acceptable system offorecasting.
2. The second general use of forecasting is to found in monitoring the continuing
,
progress of,plans based on forecasts. Forecasts serve the function of lighthouses
to shipmasters at night, reference points for coursc and speed requiring action! no
action decisions.
3. The forecast provides a warning sys1cm of the critical factors to bc monitored
regularly becausc they might drastically affect the performance of the plan.
,
7:4
Type of Forecasting
,
Not only is forecasting increasingly important, but quantitative models are playing an
important role in forecasting function. There is clearly a steady increase in the use of
quantitative forecasting models at many levels in industry and government. An
conspicuous example is the widespread use of inventory control programs that include a
forecasting subroutine.
,
There are nwnerous ways to classify forecasting models and the terminology varies with
. the classification. For example, one can refer to long-range, medium-range and shortrange models. There are regression models, extrapolation models and conditional or
precedent-based m~dels as well as nearest-neighbor models. The major distinction we
employ will be between quantitative and qualitative forecasting techniques.
I
,
:
7.4.1 Qualitative Forecasting
A qualitative, naturalistic approach is used when observing and interpreting reality. For
this reason, this style of is most often used when studying human relations. When
measuring people's perceptions of a situation, such as au organization's culture, or in
order to nnderstand an organization's behavior, the qualitative approach will allow the
researcher to guide the research toward unearthing the underlying
causes of human
behavior in addition to simply measuring the human behavior. TIlls research method is
used when the researchers need to I want to develop a theory that \\'ill explain what was
experienced.
7.4.2 Quantitative Forecasting
. Quantitative
forecasting
projects history into the future.
In other words, it tries to
understand what happened in the past and usc that to predict the future.
Quantitative
forecasting models possess two important and attractive features:
1. They are expressed in notation. Thus, they establish an unambiguous record of
how the forecast
is made.
Z. With the use of spreadsheets and computers, quantitative models can be based on
an amazing quantity of data.
So, the quantitative forecasting involves two steps:
1. Modeling the past and
2. Using the model to predict the future.
There are mainly two approaches of quantitative forecasting: casual forecasting models
and time-series forecasting models. In our analysis we \\'ill discuss casual forecasting
models with curve fitting of least squares fits.
. 7.5
Casual Forecasting Model
in a casual forecasting model, the forecast for the quantity depends on another quantity or
set of quantities. Let, y denote the true value for some variable of interest and let y denote
i
'
a prediction or forecast value for that variable. Then in a casual model,
y = f(xj,
X2 •••••••••••
x,,)
where fis a forecasting rule or fimction, and x], X2
Xnis a set of variables. In this
representation, the x variables are often called independent variables, whereas
"
y is the
dependent or response variable. The notion is that we know the independent variables and
use them in the forecasting model to forecast the dependent variable, To use a casual
. forecasting model, two conditions are required:
1. There must be a relationship between valucs of the independent and dependent
variables such'that the former provides information about the later.
2. The values for the independent variables must be known and available to the
forecaster at the time the fore<:ast must be made.
One commonly used approach is creating a casual forecasting model is called curvc
fitting. The fundamental ideas of curve fitting are easily illustrated by a model in which
one independent variable is used to predict the value of the dependent variable. In this
,
way, the method ofleast squares is a formal procedure for curve fitting. It is a two step
process:
1. To select a specific function form (e.g., a straight line or a quadratic curve)
2. Within the set of functions specified in step 1, to choose the specific function that
minimizes the sum of the squared deviations between the data points and the
function values.
.7.6
Mobile Subscribt'r Growth Forecasting
Table 7.1 : Mobile Subscriber Growth
1.36
2.78
6.11
14.32
27.72
43.70
The trend of mobile subscribers is as folJo\\,,:
Figure 7.1 : Mobile Subscriber Gro\\1h
The equation is,
Y-lI+b"
D=1lII+b~~) ---(i)
Again, xy-ax+bxl
rxy-aDc+br
bxl
(ii)
Solving (i) nnd (ii) for allIld b.
,-
Dr"y
- r bx'D
LxI,y-nDy
(l)i -DL b,,2
"
Table 7.2 : Different values 10 calculale a and b
r.X't
~\~~!\l..;p-ili!
!illIUU:"' ..~
. f',;/;lH!'. Y~o._.>t,*l1:mm.IY._
'ii2~i
..
,. ,-=
,I
1
2
3
4
5
6
21
1.36
1.36
2.78
5.56
6.11
18.32
14.32
57.28
27.72
138.60
43.70
262.20
95.9944
483.332
1
4
9
16
25
36
91
So, the values are:
a = -13.47 and b = 8.42
So, Ihe equation is,
y =-13.47 + 8.42x
Using regression analysis 10 [md out the valuo of a and b, we get,
SUMMARY OUTPUT
0.943337
0.889885
0.862357
6.195276
•
ANaVA
D
'"
,ion
Re.idual
Total
,,, "
'"
1240.711
1240.711
153.5258
38.38145
F
32.32579
Si
i rcance F
0.004725018
1394.236
Standard
,
Coefflcieiu.
Inlerc
-13.4712
8,42008
X Variable 1
E"M
5.767488
1.480954
I Sial
-2.33572
5.685578
P_valu<
0,079751
OJ){)4725
Lower 95%
-29.48432636
4.308292147
. a!- -13.47 and b = 8.42
S6, the equation is,
y = -13.47 + 8.42x
Using the equation, ,we can forecast the subscriber base as follows:
U "" 95%
2.541903
12.531&7
,.
Table 8.3 :.Mo~!l~ subscriber ro~ing
Yi'lii'im"[
~lI1tyta'r:mrl
~iiI!Siili~l:nb-erlmil:
""l1li
til'
tll~tl" ,!roi1 U!lil.!I•....:....UI.-,llil:~i1
!Ill! " .J : ,senol'No •• "I. l;r 1\1IIlIon ;n~,q,
2009
7
45.47
2010
20ll
2012
2013
8
9
10
II
53.89
62.31
70,73
79.15
•
I
,;,
Current VAS Market Size
. The CUTTellIVAS mlUket size is c:llculllted b4sed on following llSSUJTlptions:
I. YCllJ200Sl,lnitcostofnllVAS
2. Yearl)' VAS marlr,;etbD.scdon )'elll'l)' tollll subscriber mod
•
Tobie 7.4 : VAS Market size
"II
"tln"ill
;11'Ultlllr~"~'
T-'n 'I!'P:~'::II
C
,Year, !~jj1jj in'l'IJ"",!,,~,~
,. ."
,
'
-.
,
l!lh~alll;:;IDrl
2003
2004
200S
2006
2007
....
IlImUllon)
I ,K II
1
18
458
4,485
16001
I
. The rnarli:et size con be presented
,
lIS follows:"
"
"
••••
"
\0.000
•••
••••
•••
,
..
Figure 7.2 : VAS Market size
I
.'
•••
i
Calculation Background
In the survey, VAS usage data are collected based on some ranges per month or year i.e.
1-30, 31-60 etc. To calculate the total quantity of VAS, avemge values of this range are
'considered which are multiplied by number of users. To illustrate it, we can take example
ofSMS data:
Actual Suryey output ofSM8 usage is as follows:
"%-Year"'-!i!-None
!r.__ "
.. _., __ .•.,••
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
,'6:-,I':::;JO'"
__ ", __ ,,_
5
16
18
44
70
1
6
22
68
84
. To get total 8MS per month, avemge value of each range are considered as follows:
Table 7.6 : Average SMS usage per month
~Year~,
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
151~j}51 Aii4m,QO., i~i8Q;:fMOl1thlri:t(rtil'~o
15
09000090
o
330
o
1,020
o
1,260
0
0
0
15
360
990
1,260
180
1,620
1,620
0
0
0
870
3,630
4,140
Then considering the unit cost ofSMS (2008 tariff), monthly and yearly cost is
calculated:
Table 7.7: Cost ofSMS usage
Yearly cost of all VASs are calculated on the same process and assumption and finally
VAS market is calculated based on total subscriber base as follows:
,~
Table 7.8 : VAS MlIJket Si7.ecnlculation
y,,,
2003
2004
200'
211116
2007
7,8
lotal Y
cost (11<) for
Sam;:'leSize
lomrVe!lrly cosi
!~ilIioo Tk) for
. tal.Subscriber
138
1
I'
'"
1,308
15,0\2
62638
4,4S5
16,001
115,444
Mobile VAS Market Growth Forecasting
7.8.1 Using lol.15ubscriber growlh In:nd
Table 7.9 : VAS MllTket Si1:cusins total subscriber growth trend
,~,
-Year"
"se"rbll
No.
2003
1
2004
2
3
200'
211116
2007
~~~rl'-ers~e,
, lillian Tk.
,,
. The trend of VAS markel size is as follows:
><=
',,",
l~,OOO
1,2.000
,,=
<=
<=
'.=
,.=
Figure 7.3 : VAS MlIJket Size trend
The equation is,
y-a+bx
LrIUl+bD
(i)
Again, xy9lX+b;'
rxy-aD+br b;'
(ii)
"
1
I'
'58
4485
16,001
Solving (i) and (ii) for a and b,
Lxl:XY - l: bx2l:Y
,~
------
•
l:xLY - nL;xy
(Lxi - nl: bJ2
Table 7.10 : Different values 10 calculate a and b
lIn !mill
1
2
3
4
5
15
1
1
18
4
9
458
4,485
16
16,001
25
20,963
55
So, the values are:
a = -6747.16 and b '" 3646.59
So, the equation is,
y '" -6747.16 + 3646.59x
Using regression analysis to find oul the value of a and b, we get,
SUMMARY OUTPUT
Re
"~,ion
SIal/sties
Mulli Ie R
R S uare
Ad'usledR
0.84001299
0,70562182
uace
Standard Error
Obsorvalions
0.60749576
4300.24212
;
ANOVA
'"
,sian
Re,idual
Talal
,
'"'
X Variable I
-"L
, ."
W;
F
Significance
F
0,074947
t.33E+{)8 l.33E+OS 7.190973
55476247
18492082
4 1.88E-+{l8
Standard
CaefflciMts
Error
P-value
-6747.1618
4510.132
-1.496
0.231546
3
,&.
3646.58826
So, the values are:
1359.856
2.68t599
0,074947
Lower
Upper
9>"
9>"
_21100.4
7606.091
-681.08
7974.257
a = -6747.16 and b = 3646.59
So, the equation is,
y = -6747.16 + 3646.59x
Using the equation, we can forecast the subscriber base as follows:
Table 7.11:
VAS Market Size Forecasting using total subscriber growth trend
.....year .. "
Vearsem ~r'ct..i~e~
_.
0,.
2009
2010
2011
20t2
2013
7.8.2
(JWlllon.TJt.)
7
8
9
10
11
18,779
22426
26,072
29,719
33,365
Using VAS usage trend
Table 7.Il : VAS Usage cost for sample size
,~
~'"
I.ear
"
..•......
'Totiil Cos.t"(T-".)Ior
S.amnle.SiZe._.....Il•...
eria
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
1
138
2
1.308
15,OIl
62,638
115,444
3
4
5
The VAS usage trend will be as follows:
1'0,0000
'1",0000
~,0il0
~o."""
., 00_
~.o!1t1.
20,00"
,
,
•
Figure 7.4 : VAS Usage cost for sample size
The equation is,
y=a+1Jx
Iy=an+b LX -----------(i)
Again, xy=ax+bx2
,
bx2 ------(ii)
vy=aLx+bL
Solving (i) and (ii) for a and b,
LxDy
-
L bX2LY
LXLY - nLxy
{Lxi - nL bx1
Table 7.13 : Different values to calculate a and b
1
2
3
4
5
15
138
138
I
1,308
4
15,012
62,638
2,616
45,036
250,552
16
115,444
577,220
25
194,540
875,562
55
9
So, the values are:
a = -48674.6 and b = 29194.2
So, the equation is,
Y = -48674.6 + 29194.2
Using regression analysis to find out the value ofa and b, we get,
SUMMARY OUTPUT
0.927442
0_860149
0.813532
21492.25
5
ANOVA
,
SS
Of
MS
Re ression
1 8.52E+09
Residual
3 1.39E+09
Total
r
,
8.52E+09
4.62E+08
F
18.4514
Signifioance
F
0.023205
9_91E+09
Standard
CoefflCiBnts
E~f
Lower
IStat
P.valUe
95%
Upper
95%
Intercenl
X Variable 1
-46614.6 22541.26 -2.15936 0,119648
29194.2 6796,441 4.295509 0023205
-120411 23061.76
7564.872 50823.53
So, the valucs are:
a = -48674,6 and b = 29194.2
So, the equation is,
Y = -48674.6 + 29194.2
Using the equation, ,we can forecast the subscriber base as follows:
Table 7.14 : VAS Market Size Forecasting using VAS usage trend
1F.6recast'E(H ':'!Mirlret Size' '
~.I
.tal', J ~ . ea:I'. ~'r~ial~~'~
fi9Y-"T:r"~%1
,,;r"
,enaINn.y
"'lll:'~'
-'"."'''," (fk)"'c'l'~~~!M?~~
';'':ii'J... ',1 i~~~~;~
~t>
i)bj_
L,; &-:!?,~4;,,~)t'"'''t'''''''.,
'.
' 01' ; I
dSam .lelSiiiF~ ~
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
7
8
9
10
11
155,685
184,879
214,073
243,267
272,462
lon~
45
54
62
71
79
.l~'"c. '
35,394
49,815
66,694
86,031
107,826
Comparison of VAS market between two approaches:
'7.9
Analysis of Customer perception on VAS usage
In addition to VAS usage pattern, there were 13 qnestions
on about subscribers'
perception or awareness on VAS. The observation is that a noticeable amount of users are
not aware of actual utility of VAS. For example, only 17% users know the full benefits of
SMS, 47% users do not know about usage of VMS, 46% users do not know about MCA
(Missed Call Alert), 34% users do not know about 24 Hours Tele-Medicine service, 39%
users do not know functionality of International Roaming and 44% users do not know the
actual number participants in conference calL Though a lot of services can be availed
using SMS most of users (above 90%) know about only SMS voting and publication of
Exam result. Good thing is that all VAS usage trend show that it is increasing day by day
and it is remarkable from 2005.
As there is no guidelines for content providers, different content providers are using
different codes for some VAS I.e. Ring Tone, CRBT elc though content is same. For
eXample code of one song (used as Ring Tone/CRBn
is not same for all operators which
results in customer's confusion.
Users are fully unsatisfied with VAS tariff. 73% users' commeut on InfolEntertainment
VAS tariffis "Too expensive" and the figure for SMSIMMSIVMS is 45%. Due to highly
competition in telecom market and intervention of HIRe,
the tariff of voice is reduced
tremendously where as VAS tariff Is still two high. One of the main reasons of high VAS
tariff is excessively high S1M tax imposed by Bangladesh Government, as expressed by
. some high officials of different operators. Now, as per Government rule, subscriber has to
pay TK. 800 as S1M Tax with every purchase of SIM card or connection. As a result,
though operators keep cennection fee Tk. 100, total acquisitien cost becomes Tk. 900.
Due to this high initial cost, sales rale went down and operators started paying this S1M
tax as subsidy so that subscriber can get connection at Tk. 100. But average ARPU
_(Average Revenue Per User) is Tk. ISO to 200. So operators have to wait 4 to 6 months
just to compensak
the initial subsidy. On the other hand, BTRC published
clear
guidelines about tariff of voice so that operators can not exceed the upper limit of that
tariff. In this situation, operators are not comfortable In reducing VAS tariff.
Some VAS are hand-set dependent I.e. MMS, GPRS, EDGE. This criterion is also
. impacted VAS uSage as 38% users do not have GPRSIEDGE enabled hand-set. Besides
this, mobile internet tariff is also very high as overall internet tariff is high in Bangladesh
and operators are dependent on ISP to provide Internet service through mobile phone.
Though a lot of promotional activities are carried oul by operators through newspaper or
Television for their ,branding, tariff, new product but promotional activities exclusively, to
. increase awareness of VAS usage is very low as expressed by most of the respondents.
As per existing process, subscriber hllS to have international
credit card to activate
International Roaming service and a good amount needs to be deposited for this purpose.
For this reason, subscribers are not encouraged to activate International Roaming which
could be a good source of VAS revenue because a lot of businessman or officials are
going to abroad for personal or business purpose,
Some of VASs are accepted by mass people because these are being uscd for instant
communication. SM8 or MM8 are most popular for sending any information, anniversary
. wish, exam result ctc. Though people are apart physically but by sending 8MS or MMS
or song dedication along with own voice in different event (victory day, independence
day, Eid), they are making bond stronger. So operators' motto also changes like "keep in
,
touch", "network of relationship" or "network of feelings" which really do matter.
On the other hand Tele-Medicine service or Cellbazar have direct socio-economic impact
. due to high practical value of these VASs. Cellbazar becomes very popular in all works of
life as it is very easy to use and people can buy or sell even small or old items that are not
usually sold to local market due social reasons.
In spite of a lot of positive values of VAS, there are some negative impacts also.
Sometimes operators offer free SMS or MMS lIS promotional which are being misused.
People are sending SMS with nasty text which results in emharrassing
personal or family life. Another common disturbance in nowaday
situation, in
is receiving call at late
night and come to know that calling party's intention is to hear the song of Caller Ring
Back Tone. For this reason some subscribers are lUlSUbscribing this service. As camera
handset is very much popular now, sometimes it happens that people are taking photo
. without pennission of object (specially girl) and spread it out via MMS which result in
bad impact in personal or family life.
7.10
Margin of Error in Survey and Analysis
As the scope of this thesis was limited, so the survey had both sampling and non. sampling errors. An important factor in determining margin of error is the size of sample.
Large samples are more likely to yield results close to the target population and thus have
smaller margin of error than modest-sized sample. In this study, the sample size was 200
which was quite small with compared to total mobile users in Bangladesh. Besides this,
survey was conducted by non-professional surveyors. So If a comprehensive survey could
be conducted by profession market research company using skilled surveyor and taking
larger sample size, the estimation could be made more accurate. Due to non-professional
surveyor, the question could be badly worded or responded might refuse to participate or
might not tell the truth which resulted in non-sampling error.
Due 10 time constraints, responds were not evenly distributed in terms of gender, monthly
_mcome, socio-economic
code (SEC), age, residential area or monthly income. So error
cOuld be minimized if the survey could be conducted within broader range covering all
works oflife.
The questionnaire included VAS usage in different years starting from 2003 to 2007 to
get VAS usage trend which was little-bit monotonous. Some respondents lost interest in
. answering same types of questions which could be re-considered during questionnaire.
,
Biases could not b~ avoided in a large scale which arises from any aspect of the survey
operation. As the survey was conducted with the help of non-professional
surveyors, there
may be errors in sample selection or part of the population may be omitted from the
sampling frame or ,weights to compensate for disproportionate
sampling rates may be
omitted. Respondents in some cases did not know the information requested or did not try
to obtain the correct information.
Some respondents might not understand what was
wanted. Out of fear or suspicion of the survey, respondents might conceal the truth. In
sOme instances, this concealment might reflect a respondent's desire to answer in a way
that is socially acceptable. This might happen as most of the respondents were known to
. surveyors.
Other than survey, in the analysis part, unit cost of year 2008 was considered in market
size calculation. Actual unit cost of all VAS could be collected from operators which
would result in more accurate output.
. Considering above points it can be concluded that the errors might be fairly large and
inferences are to be made with caution.
CHAPTER
8
OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTENT PROVIDERS
8.1
Introduction
hi the VAS industry, though the main information passes between mobile opemtors lind
subscribers, another third party called Content Provider plays an important role in this
field. As a result, Content Provider becomes part and parcel orVAS industry.
8.2
Content Providers (CP)
The Content Providers is defmed as the firm which supplies text and graphics of articles
on interviews, new developments, news stories, etc., that can be employed to make a
publication or site more attractive and useful 10 its readers or visitors. In mobile industry
it means exclusively the company that supply VAS content Le. Ringtone, Wallpaper,
jokes, news etc to the mobile operators.
8)3
Service Providers (SP)
•
•
Service Providers (Technology Partner and Platform Enabler) handle software platforms
and aulhoring tools. Platforms are the backbone of the service providers and allow
managing of various entertainment services, such as games, streaming audio and video
. and ring tone downloads. Authoring tools are a necessary component for delivering
applications by application developers. Some companies has full"lledged platfonn to
serve as CP and SP where some company act as only either CP or SP.
8.4
Present S~tusof CP and SP in Bangladesh
. At present, there are, around 30 content providers or service providers in Bangladesh.
Some companies are full-lledged SP with platfonn to deliver VAS content directly to
operators. But mostiofthem
either to SP or operators.
are only content provider which are delivering VAS contents
,8.5
Licensing of CP/SP
There is no licensing guideline for CP or SP in Bangladesh. So there is no organized
initiative
for
SP/SP
activities.
Copyright
Issue
IS
being
discussed
among
singer/tuner/lyricist as songs are being used as VAS content without consent of respective
owner. Licensing
guidelines
will be published
very soon as expressed
by BTRC
(Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission) chairman in a round-table meeting.
8.6
Opportunities for CP
Jupiter Research estimates the mobile entertainment
non-messaging
mobile content
market (including advertising) will reach $188 billion by 2012. In 2009, after gambling
.0'3%) and game~ (31 %), Jupiter believes the most popular entertainment services will be
music (16%) and sports (8%). IDC thinks by 2009, over 30 million U.S. subscribers will
consume commercial videofrV content.
8.7
Technical Environment of V AS
In the recent ye~,
computer, Internet and IP technology developed very fast in the world
and in Bangladesh. This provides a strong technical support for the development of VAS.
With the pervasion ofIP technology in telecommunication networks, the application of
soft switch technology and the evolution to 3G, the teleconrrnunication networks in China
will have greater capability for supporting various VAS.
8,7.1
The Influence orIP
With the transfer of telecommunication
services from voice service to data service, all
kinds of the traditional teleconrrnunication networks carrying the services, such as the
access networks, transmission networks, and signaling networks and so on, also change to
. a single carrier network system based on connectionless IP technology.
This change strengthens the capability of the networks. The networks become more
flexible, and at the same time possess also high stability, reliability and are easy to
manage. Not only the current quality of services can be guaranteed, but also an open
system architecture can be provided, which allows rapid deployment of new VAS and
provides services to third parties. The development ofIP technology provides plenteous
network resources for value-added services.
8.7.2
The InDuence or Soft-Switch Technology
Soft switch technoiogy is a kind of new technology based on IP phone, and is deemed as
one of the key technologies for NGN. In a soft switch system, in order to be abie to
introduce new or value-added services, the call control function provided by the soft
switch technology shouid be the basic or atomic cail control function required by all kinds
of services for the purpose of convenient introduction ali kinds of new services and valueadded services.
The ISC application workgroup bas put forward an architecture for providing value-added
services in'the next generation packet-based voice network.
API: applicalioll pn>gram iIlltrfa«
SIP: •••• -ion ilIili1lion p:rotoml
KIF: rea1 _
tnnsmi";on
BlOC, bemDg ind<pmdml
BCP:
protoc<>l
<.>II<Wlro1
=mg <:<mIroIprotocol
Figure 8.1: Architecture for providing VAS in the next generation packet-based network
The greatest advantage of soft switch based NGN is that it can introduce some exciting
. new value-added'scrvices
rapidly and economicaily during the provisioning of the normal
services. Soft switch only provides some basic and supplementary
services, whereas
processing the value-added services has been moved out from the soft switch. Application
server can provide the environments for deploying VAS rapidly and economically, and
various kinds of programming interfaces (API), such as JTAPI, JAIN, Pariay, CPL, eG!,
. Servlet and so on. These interfaces are open and flexible, and enabie establishing,
"'
managing and deploying new services without updating or renovating soft switch
equipments. This can reduee the cycle and expenses for deploying the new services.
8.7.3
The InDuence of 3G Technology
Being able to provide various mobile multimedia services is one important feature of 3G
mobile network systems. The technical breakthrough may stimulate greatly the
development of mobile VAS in China, and following services become possible.
,
:
'
8.7.3.1 Mobile location based services
Many location orientated services can be provided, such as navigation, measurement, first
aiding, vehicle scheduling, guarding against theft and robbing, city planning, tourist
guidance and so on. Since the data transmission rate increases greatly in a 3G system, the
location based services will play an important role in 3G networks.
8.7.3.2 Video telephony and video conference
Video telephone will become more and more popular in 3G networks, where the network
bandwidth can be b'Uaranteed.Especially with the development of coding technique and
the introduction of IP technique, the cost of the network operators for video telephony
based on lP can decrease. This may promote the popularization of video telephony and
. video conference services.
8.7.3.3 Mobile business
Mobile business is another hotspot of VAS in 3G networks. Users can obtain, process and
send information at anytime and everywhere. The trading based on the closed mobile
. networks may be more safe and reliable than that based on the open Internet system.
Mobile business uses the mobile network operators with good reputation as the medium;
this solves the reputation crisis problem in the current Internet. Moreover, it is allowed to
use multiple ways such as voice, SMS, WAP for trading, and the mobile business
becomes more convenient and flexible. Hence, mobile business is a launch point for the
development of E-business, and the 3G networks provide a piatform for the mobile
business reduce the cycle and expenses for deploying the new services.
8.7.4
The Influence ofTenninal
Tcrhnology
The development of different kinds oftcnninals
provides conditions and possibilities for
. enriching value-added services. Especially the improvement in encapsulation, displaying,
and CPU processing speed etc., has made it possible for enjoying VAS using mobile
multimedia terminals.
8.8
Main Challenges
. The main challenges for the CP or operators about VAS are as follows as expressed by
Aleatel-Lucent in their recent study:
8.8.1
Download Criteria
Whcn it comes to o'ownioads, Subscribers are Unhappy due to following main reasons:
• Purchase process is difficult
• My phone company's web site is hard to use
• Content is too expensive for what you get
• I want to be able to preview before I buy
• Hidden cost of off-portal is a killer
The solution of this problem is Multimedia Content Management. A content management
system (CMS) is co.mputer software used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in a
,
cqnsistcntly organized fashion.
,
8.8.2
Combine sources for subscriber
data
• Subscriber preferences and selected profiles
• Subscriber activitics; purchases, deliveries. etc.
• Browsing patterns and purchase triggers
• Create targeted campaigns
• Monltor responsiveness to campaigns
8.8.3 Integrated marketing campaigns
. Intcgrated marketing campaigns will allow selling more content throngh targeted
merchandising and advertising as follows:
8.8.3.1 Message through SMS or MMS
• Subscriber receives SMS with promotional message
• Clicking the link provided as part of the message redirects the user to the
promotions" page in the portal
• The subscriber can purchase the promotional offer
8.8.3.2 Promotional campaign for free trial
-8.8.3.3 Increase awareness for new content services to encourage more subscriptions
8.8.3.4 Create targeted Campaigns Alert and Promote Relevant Offers
9.6.3.5 Sell Personalized Content through a strong Content Management Platfonn
8.9
Payment
• Most of the .operators (78% as per A1catel-Lucent study) viewed integration with
OSS and billing systems as a top problem
• Non-traditional tariffing metrics for new services create operational or billing
difficulties
• As networks evolve. provisioning of billing will become more complex unless
, operators reduce the number ofplatfonns
8.10 M-Advertising
Mobile Advertising is a fonn of communication that typically attempts to persuade
. potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or
service via mobile phone.
8.10.1 End-User perception
Learning from Recent research on Advertising
Acceptance
by Alcatel-Lueent
IS
as
follows:
• People don't mind advertising if it perceived as part of their regularly consumed
content.
0,
People respond better when there's a relationship between the content and ,the
advertising,
o People respond better when there's a relationship between the content and device
o Integrated advertising can be fun, interactive - and relevant to the story .
. 8.10.2 Selllldvertising space to advertisers
Advertising is a new revenue stream in mobile industry which can support part of the cost
of the data services. The possible ways of advertising are as fol1ows:
• Ad space in SMS (use remaining space to add text)
o
Peer-2-peer
in : Thc short SMS that one receives
is filled
ill
with
advertising.
o
Pecr-2-peer out: The short SMS that one sends is filled in with advertising
endorsed by the sender.
o
Notifications:
The notification that I roceivc is filled in with advertising
(low credit, missed cal!, voice mail, ... )
o Ad space in mobile portal (during browsing or redirecting)
o
An ad splash of 5 sees when the homepagelcategory
o
A scrollable leader board at the top of the page.
is loading.
o Ad space on Mobile TV (during zapping or after watching a clip/movie)
CHAPTER 09
VAS MARKETING
9.1
AND RELATED POLICY ISSUES
Market definition
The definition of a market is a key Issue ill competillon
necessary to define a "relevant market'
policy and analysis. It is
in order 10 establish whether a finn has a
dominant position in that market. Similarly, in analyzing whether a restrictive agreement
among firms has an appreciable
effect on reducing competition
in a market, it is
"necessary to define ,the relevant market and then to evaluate the impact of the agreement
in that market. Market definition is an initial step in competition analysis. It provides the
context in which to, evaluate the level of competition and the impact of anti-competitive
conduct.
There are two aspects to the definition of a market -the product, including a service, and
the geographic area in which the product is sold. In defining the product, close substitutes
are normally included. The analysis of substitutability is generally conducted from the
demand side that is from the perspective of buyers of the product.
"
For example, the defiuitiou of the market for international telephone service in a country
could include IP Telephony services that are available through the PSlN, by dialing a
specific access number
"computer-to-(;omputer"
or code. However, the definition
would generally exclude
IP Telephony services that require special software, computers
at both ends of a call, and pre-arranged calling times, etc. to the average buyer of
international telephone services, such "computer to computer" services would not be a
close substitute for international teiephone service.
9.2
The product market
A widely accepted approach to market definition begins with the assumption that there is
a monopolist in the relevant product market. The question is then asked: could the
hypothetical monopolist raise the price of the product by a small but significant amount
and for a non.transitory
period? If a sufficient number of buyers would switch to other
products so as to make the pnce lllcrease unprofitable
for the monopolist,
those
substitutes would be included in a new definition of the market. This analysis will bc
repeated until the boundaries are set so that substitution does not make the price increase
an unprofitable strategy.
9.3
The geographicmarket
The second dimension is the definition of the geographic scope of the market. In defining
the geographic boundaries of a product market, the aim is to identity the extent to which
the proximity of rival suppliers can impose competitive constraints on the hypothetical
. monopolist or actual market participant. Again, the definition of the geographic scope of
the market is based on an assessment of substitutability
in response to product price
changes.
Goographic areas are more important in defining some telecommunications
markets than
others. For example, the market for local access in Dhaka is not affected by the degree of
. competition in the Johannesburg local access market. These are clearly separate markets.
However, geography is increasingly less important in defining the level of competition in
markets for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), E-mail providers or even internationai long
distance services. The markets for these products are rapidly becoming global markets. It
would be difficult, ifnot impossible, for an E-maii service provider in Dhaka to raise the
. price of it5 E-mail Service if customers in Dhakn have local access to substitute E-mail
;
,
service providers (e.g. Hotmail) that are based in other geographic areas.
Having said that, the definition of product and geographic markets remains very relevant
for the services that remain m05t subject to market dominance, particularly local and
national long distanCe services.
9!4
Barriers to Entry
The evaluation of cO;mpetitive markets and market behaviour often focuses on the extent
to which one or more fums can introduce and sustain price increases. If it is easy for a
new
supplier to enter
a market and provide a substitute product, then e5tablished suppliers
,
,
will
, be reluctant to implement significantlong-tcrm
price increases. Such price increases
wouid invite market entry, which will increase competition.
The existence of barriers to market entry will limit this competitive response. There are
many types of barriers to entry in different markets. Among the most commonly
recognized barriers are:
• Government rcstrictions such as monopoly franchises or restrictive licensing
practices
• Economies of scale (i.e., where per unit production costs fall as output increases, a
large established supplier can produce at a lower per unit cost than new entrants);
• High fixed/capital costs and
• Intellectual property rights such as copyright and patent protection (which may
affect the availability to a competing supplier of key inputs or outputs).
Multiple barriers to,entry may exist in a single telecommunications market. For example,
local networks
are
typically
regarded
as
being characterized by economies of
scale. The establishment of a local facilities-based network also requires a large
investment in fixed costs. Local telecommunications operators often require government
licenses, which may be granted on an exclusive or otherwise restrictive basis. Entry into
wireless local networks is also restricted by spcctrwn scarcity. Certain iocal
telecommunicati~nS services may operate on network platforms which have patent or
copyright protection (complicating or preventing the launch of a competing service).
In addition to these barriers to entry, it is also possible for a dominant finn to engage in
conduct that establishes additional barriers to entry. Refusal to supply essential facilities
~
refusal to interconnect networks are two ciassic examples of anti-competitive conduct
that ari incwnbent operator may engage in to discourage or prevent new entry.
. 9;5
Market power and dominance
As a practical matter, most of the concern of competition authorities (and
telecommunications regulators promoting competitive markets) is focused on established
teiecommunications operators that have market power. Firms without market power are
simply not able to cause serious problems in the economy or in the sector. If they raise
their prices above market levels, for example, they will simply lose customers and profits.
9.6
Market power defined
In general, market power is dermed as the ability of a fIrm to independently raise prices
above market levels for a non-transitory period without losing sales to such a degree as to
make this bchaviour unprofitable. Factors frequently considered in determining whether a
fInn has market power include:
•
•
market share;
barriers to market entry;
• pricing behaviour;
•
•
profitability and
vertical integration .
Market share can be measured in several ways, including monetary value, units of sales,
'units of production and production capacity. Market share alone can be an inaccurate
measure of market power, However, it is unlikely that a fIrm without significant market
share will have sufficient market power to behave anti-competitively on its own.
Therefore, market share is usually a starting point in determining market power.
Assessment of barriers to entry is also important. The extent to which established
suppliers are constrained by the prospect of new market entry is a key factor in whether
thc established suppliers have market power.
Pricing and profitability are other factors relevant to a determination of market power.
The e>:istenceof true price rivairy is inconsistent with a finding of market power. Price
competition; which consists of "follow the leader" behaviour, is consistent with the
exercise of market power by the price leader, The profitability of existing suppliers in a
market can also be indicative of the extent of true price competition. Excessive
profitability typically indicates insufficient price competition and the exercise of market
power in setting prices.
. Finally, vertical integration is relevant to an assessment of whether a fIrm which enjoys
market.power in one market is able to extend its power into upstream or downstream
markets. In telecommunications, incumbent operators that are vertically integrated (e.g.
that provide tocal access as well as long distance or internationai services) can often \Ise
their market power in the local access market to competitive advantage in the long
distance and international markets. They may abuse their market power, for example, by
inflating local access prices (including interconnection prices) and using the surplus
revenues to subsidize rate cuts to their competitive long distance or international services.
9.7
Significant market power
AD. organization shall be presumed to have significant market power (SMP) when it has a
share of more than 25% of a particular telecommunications market. It is also an
obligation on organizations with SMP to meet all reasonable requests for access to the
network including access at points other than the network termination points offered to
the majority of end-users.
. The 25% SMP tJ;rresholdis not fixed in stone. The Directive permits national regulllt~ry
author,ities to determine that organizations with less than 25% market share have
significant market power; and to determine that organizations with market share greater
than 25% do not' have significant market power. In making such determinations,
regulators are directed to take into account factors such as:
• the organization's ability to inflncnce market conditions;
• turnover relative to the size of the market;
• , control of means of access to end-nsers;
• I
access to financial resources; and
• experience in providing products and services in the market.
Characterization of an organization lIShaving SMP does not necessarily lead to II finding
,
of market power,or dominance on the part of that organization. The SMP designation is
simply a trigger for the application of additional obligations.
9.8
Market dominance
,
Market dominance 'is
II
more extreme form of market power. The definition of market
dominance varies significantly in the laws and regulations of different countries. In
general, however. two factors are key in the determination of market dominance. First
there must usually be a relatively high market share (usually no less than 35%, often 50%
. or more). Second, there must nonnally be significant barriers to entry into the relevant
markets occupied by the dominant finn,
9.9
Essentialfacilities
The concept of essential facilities is important to the application of competition law in the
. telecommunications sector. In the sector, an essential facility is generally defined as one
which has the following characteristIcs:
• it is supplied on a monopoly basis or is subject to some degree of monopoly
control;
• it is required by competitors (e.g. interconnecting operators) in order to compete
md
• it cannot, be practically duplicated by competitors for technical or economiC
reasons.
Common examples of essential facilities are network access lines (local loops) and local
. exchange switchIng. Local loops are the circuits between a customer's premises and the
first "node" or exchange which connects the customer with the PSlN. It can be seen that
in many countries, local loops fall within the definition of essential facilities because they
• required by competitors in order to compete for the business of end customers;
• predominantly supplied by the incumbent, and
• technically or economically difficult to substitute, at least on a widespread basis.
A telecommunications operator that controls an essential facility often has both the
incentive and the means to limit access to the facility by competitors. It becomes a matter
of public interest to ensure that essential facilities are available to competitors on
reasonable tenns. Without such access, competition will suffer, and the sector will
operate less efficiently than it could.
"
-9.10 The Rationale for Competition Policy
When competition exists in market-based economies, two or more different suppliers
contend with each other to sell their goods or services to customers. Competitive
suppliers may offer lower prices, more or better quantities, and packages or qualities of
service to attract customers. CompetitIon serves the public interest by inducing suppliers
to become more efficient and to offer a greater choice of products and services at lower
pnces.
In a competitive market, individual suppliers lack "market power". They cannot dictate
market terms, but must respond to the rivalry of their competitors in order to stay in
. business. Market power is generally defIned as the power to unilaterally set and maintain
prices or other key tenns and conditions of sales; that is without reference to the market
or to the actions of competitors.
9.11 Imperfect competition
. In a perfectly competitive market, there would be little or no reason for gove~~t
intervention to implement competition policy. Such a market would ideally consist of a
large number of suppliers of products or services, as well as a large number of consumers.
Consumers would have complete information and freedom to deal with any chosen
supplier. There would be no negative external factors associated with supplier or
consumer behaviour. No single supplier would be able to distort the efficient operation of
the market or the setting of prices or supply conditions.
However, no markets are perfectly competitive. Many markets are not truly competitive,
but are dominated. by a small number of large or well-established firms, Producers or
suppliers in such markets often have market power that can be exercised to the detriment
. of consumer welfare and overall industry performance.
,
9.12 Monopoly
Monopoly can be the result of market failure. A monopolistic market is often associated
with excessively high product prices, reduced supply levels or other behaviour that
. reduces consumer welfare.
Collusive agreements among suppliers are another example of
,
market failure. Supplier collusion can be directed to increasing prices or restricting
output, behaviour that is similar to the exercise of monopoly power.
Telecommunications has, in most jurisdictions, developed in a monopoly environment.
As competition is introduced into telecommunications markets, therc are typically
concerns about the continuing exercise of market power by the incumbent operator. lbis
exercise of market power constitutes a special form of market failure that must be
addressed by regulators and competition authorities in many cOWltries.
Public intervention can have other objectives. For example, a government may adopt
_rules and policies that limit the participation of foreign capital or companies in order to
create or cultivate a domestic industry. Such intervention may deliberately limit
competition and compromise economic efficiency in favour of other public interests.
Competition policy is generally applied through two different types of government
intervention. The first type is behavioural. In this type of intervention, a public authority
. attempts to modifYthe behaviour of a particular finn or group of firms through regulation
of their behaviour. Price regulation is an example of behavioural intervention. Other
examples are orders prohibiting collusive practices or agreements, and orders requiring
interconnection of competitors' networks.
A second form of intervention is structural. Such intervention affects the market structure
of the industry. For example, governments may intervene to prevent a merger of the two
major telecom network operators in a market. Similarly, a dominant supplier might be
required to separate its operations into distinct corporate entities, or to divest itself of
Iiiles of business entirely. The 1984 AT&T divestiture in the United States provides a
weli-known example of the latter.
9;13 Flexibility
Government inte:vention in markets generally requires flexibility and an ability to tailor
rules and principles to specific circumstances. In.some instances, competition rules can be
fonnulated as outright prohibitions (for example, against price fixing agreements). In
. many situations, however, pro-competitive rules are formulated so that there is discretion
i~ their application. 'For example, price discrimination is not always inappropriate; only
anticompetitive or otherwise harmful forms of pnce discrimination are generally
prohibited.
Competition policy is applied to curb abuses of market power and to prevent a powerful
firm from forcing competitors out of the market. However, there is a tension between the
objective of protectIng competItion and the more problematic practice of protecting
individual competitors. This tension is particularly evident in the regulatIon of the
teleCOinmunicati6ns industry during the transition period from the introduction of
,
cOmpetitionto the time competition becomes self-sustaining.
Competition policies generally have no iron-clad rules that must be rigorously applied in
all circumstances. Thc policies must be applied flexibly to suit the circumstances of
different markets.
9.14 : The Transition from Monopoly to Competition in Telecom
An effective competition policy must take into account the specific characteristics of the
market to which it is applied. Telecommunications network service markets raise unique
challenges for the application of competition policy. These challenges arise from the
specific manner in which some incumbent network operators are able to continue to
dominate their markets after the introduction of competition.
It is generally desirable to minimize government intervention in competitive markets.
However, there is a general consensus that regulatory intervention is required to
implement a successful transition from monopoly to competitive telecommunications
markets. The introduction of effective competition into telecommunications markets
. around the world has generally been more difficult and intrusive than in the case of most
other markets.
9,15
The Cross-subsidies
Incumbent operators are often able to cross-subsidize some services from others. Many
. different fonus of cross-subsidy are possible. In most cOlmtries,local access services have
traditionally been cross-subsidized by international services. Profits from the latter were
used to maintain below-cost tariffs in the former. New entrants typically do not have a
similar range of services to cross-subsidize. Some incumbents have engaged in anticompetitive practices by which competitive services (e.g. mobile telephone services or
. Internet access services) are priced below costs and effectively subsidized by monopoly
or less-competitive services, such as international services.
9.16 Customer inertia
Telecommunications network markets are often characterized by a high degree of
customer inertia. New entrants may find it very difficult to persuade customers to switch
from an incumbent that has served them for many years. This is particularly true 'for
lower-volume users (e.g. residential customers) when marketing costs and customerswitching costs and inconveniences can be high (e.g. dialing extra dIgIts to reach a new
entrant's network, dealing with two telephone bills, changing telephone numbers, etc.). In
some cases, incumbents may intentionally take actions to "lock in" their customers, and to
. make switchIng to competitors more difficult and costly.
"
CHAPTER 10
VAS COMING IN FUTURE
10.1 M-Commerce
M-Commerce is the ability to conduct commerce using a mobile device e.g. a mobile
phone, a PDA, a smartphone while on the move and other emerging mobile equipment.
The following service can be availed using M-Conunerce:
•
Mobile Ticketing
•
Mobile Vouchers/CouponsILoyalty
•
•
Content Purchase and Delivery
•
•
Mobile Banking (Remittance disbursement)
•
•
•
Information/weatioD
Cards
Based Services
Mobile Brokerage
Auctions
I
Mobile Purchase
Mobile Marketing and Advertising
10.1.1 Mobile Banking (Remittance disbursement)
Introduction
of m'obile
phone
,
network
for remittance
disbursement
would
bring
tremendous benefit 'in remittance sender and receiver's life as well as will generate more
remittance through legal channel Remittance disbursement can be done jointly by a bank
and mobile operator.
Overseas emplo)'TIlcnt has increased significantly over the last few years in Bangladesh.
The flow of migrant workers is associated with the growing flow of international
remittances to Bangladesh. Also a large number of local migrant populations involved in
. large volume of internal remittance and mostly through unauthorized but costly channels.
One of the main reasons for using such channel is less number ofbanked populations and
high cost of money transfer against small ticket size.
%
•
The formnl clmnnels of domestic remirtllnce lU'eGPO nnd Inter.bank trnnsfer when: Il!I
informal chl1Jllle1is oourier service. The informnl chnnneis hold 70% of the totol domestic
remittance mnrkel share nutinly due to the Convenience IllIdflWeI'delivery.
OlnforTrol cllannel
D FOI'lTl:lIchaMei
_:~Ilye-NA
Figure 10.1 : RemittllJlCc Charme1 mnrl::et share
Every yenr Banglndesh is receiving large number of remittance from its migrant
workforce.
intemalionnl
Remlttlmen
hlIve brought II silent economic
rt:volution in
BIlIIg.llldesh.A substantial mnOWlI still comes vin illegal Hlindl.
.~I~~'::
~~:::~::'~,;~~~i
,~'j~~~~.:::
=;~~~;:~=:~:::::
::::';~~~.~
~::~~'::
---
!i!
•
"
l'"
.,',
"5~ "MM:' "'.". ';r.':',; '.',' 1'.: '~.-"". ~~~~~-~.
- '~~1~'
••• '~'.
D .'
.1.• "•••••••••
,.
".,
•• ,~
"~r"-+ •••
3, _~_;I;._.'••••••• "•• ;'I.'I..•
2 4:...l'.:~'._ ..
,
.
~.
- •• -- - -,.-
~..
,"
o
"
Figure 10.2: Overseas Remittance flow
,
There will be enormous socio economic benefit in implementation of such project such
~,
• Banks could deliver electronic payment in a cos! effective manner
• Banks could reach rural areas easily leveraging mobile operator's reach
• Easy remittance for un-banked population specially beneficiary of migrant
workers
• Large base of mobile subscriber
• Low rural reach of banks branches while high rural reach by mobile operators
through retailers
• Due to complex banking channel migrant workforce is still using illegal channel
for remittance
• Cost of sending money using legal channel will go down - suitable for marginal
wage earners
• Women, part of the society, can receive their remittance directly to their own
managed account sitting at home
• About 13% population of Bangladesh have bank account whereas mobile has
much greater penetration and at present 30% of Bangladeshi population are
mobile users.
10.2 Mobile TV
Mobile Internet is now integral to our modern life. There are generally three major mobile
data custOmer groups. and each is characterized by different needs and tastes.
Communication (e-mail, messaging, conferencing), Entertainment (games, video, music),
and Information management (databases, documents, note-taking) delineate the main
categories, although they possess some overlapping features. Mobile TV and video
. presently account for one third of the mobile Internet market. Based on falling prices due
"
to increasingly
dmnutically.
mass applicntion. and consumption,
lhis figun: is destined
to
nSIC
Gartner Sllllistics indiClllC that mobile TV users • including unicast • will
reach I billion by 2012 .
. This prediction is cOnsolidated b)' existing, widespread comm~ial
deployment trends. In
2004 NIT, DaCoMa lllUm:hed the ,""oorld' s first mobile TV stf','ice based on unienst
.
.
technology. This \lIns soon followed by SKT in 2005 and by Verizon. who provide mobile
ry vin DMB broadcasting
,
BJ\d
~,
Medill flow technology respectively. To date. lll'Ound 30
,
countries Mve deployed mobile TV nrtworks, end this number is rising on II monthly
Wis. It' s believed that mobile TV will stIlrt 10 boom in the 2008 • 2009 timefr=tc
,,
I
,
"
••
Figure 10.3 : Mobile TV i1Chcmllticdillgrant
,
I
The rapid evolution ormnbile technology supports hig1ler"ClIpacily net ••••
,orks, and tISsueh
is both enabling and llCCCleralingthc populwity of mobile TV. Originally voice formed
the successful driver for 20 networks nnd, todtIy, video lllld TV underpin 30 deployment.
The evolution from 30 to 40 is set 10 be stimulated by services that offer enhsnced
q~lity. QUlIlity indiClltors span increased bnndwidth. elc:vated sophistication in temts of
l~e~cak
information provision. and improved eustomiZlltion capabilities. TIle mlltunty
,
of kC)' 40 t~hnologies such as OFDMA. MIMO, and optimized MAC scheduling
"
,
,
'
lIigorithms realize 11range of deslmble features. These include enhanced Itllndover and
mobility, major infmstruclurt design requirements tMt promote a mpid response, eleVllted
. session rotes, incrused
Cllp3City, reduced user chllfges, swift return on investment (ROI)
for opcl1ltors. and simplified llutonomous terminals.
I'
,
!
t.
"
CHAPTER 11
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
11.1 Conclusion
,
In general, Bangladesh possesses a suitable environment for the development of mobile
VAS. The, continuous increase in economic in Bangladesh provides a ne<:essary
. precondition for the development of mobile VAS. A large amount of potential users and
requirement on diverse mobile VAS can be expected. During the SliVey, the author feels
the enthusiasm of the respondents about VAS. In fact customers were very much
impressed when they came to know a lot of features and facilities available in addition to
traditional conversation using mobile phone. Most of the users are familiar only with
entertainment VAS i.e. ringtone, CRBT etc. They were very much eager to know about
,
MeA, Call Block, Cellbazar, International Roaming etc. So there is a big opportunity for
operators and content providers to invest and earn more in this sector. In addition, the
telecommunication laws and reb'Ulationsin Bangladesh can guarantee also the normal
operation of mobile VAS and thc rational market competition. Furthermore, the technical
progress in Bangladesh provides the basis and possibility for the introduction of mobile
. VAS. The network infrastructure and platform needed by various mobile VAS can be
realized and provided.
As the scope of this thesis was limited in terms of time and budget, so the survey had both
sampling and non-sampling errors. An important factor in determining margin of error is
the size of sample. Large samples are more likely to yield results close to the target
p6pulation and thus have smaller margin of error than modest-sized sample. In this study,
the sainple size waS 200 which Was quite small with compared to total mobile users in
Blltlgladesh. Besides this, survey was conducted by non-professional surveyors. So if a
compr'ehensive sUrvey could be conducted by profession market research company using
skilled'surveyor and taking larger sample size, the estimation could be made more
. accurate. Due to time constraints, responds were not evenly distributed in terms of
,
b'Cllder,monthly income, socio-economic code (SEC), age, residential area or monthly
income. So error could be minimized if the survey could be conducted within broader
wo
range covering all works of life. Biases could not be avoided in a large scale which arises
from any aspect of the survey operation. As the survey was conducted with the help of
non-professional surveyors, there might be errors in sample selection or part of the
population might be omitted from the sampling. This might happen as most of the
respondents were known to surveyors.
Other than survey, in the analysis part, unit cost of year 2008 was considered In markct
size calculati~n. 'Actual unit cost of all VAS could be collected from operators which
. would result in more accurate output.
Considering above points it can be concluded that the errors might be fairly large and
inferences are to be made with caution.
11,2 Recommendations
Though the VAS arena is vast in tenns of its variety and volume, the scope of this thesis
was to touch each area only. The participation of respondents was very much positive and
they
, were very much, interested in this field. As the sample size of the survey was only
200, so still there is scope to get a better result with a higher sample size. Based on
current
scenario of
,
, VAS market and customer perception received from the survey, it is
. clear that one of the main reasons oflow usage of VAS is lack of customer awareness. So
we like to recommend conducting a comprehensive market research by Operators or
Market Research Companies to get in-depth analysis on VAS usage for the greater
interest of highly potential VAS market in Bangladesh.
'"
REFERENCES
[1]
Ray, D. S., "Mobile Value Added Services in India", lAMAI & eTechnology
Group@IMRB,pp2-20,2006.
[2]
Holtkamp, B., "Mobile Value-Added Services in China, Project Sununary
Report", 6th Framework Program, European Union, pp 65-90, 2006.
[3]
Sun, S. 1':., So, C. F. and In, T., "A study of consumer value-added services in
mobile commerce: focusing on domestic cellular phone companies in Taiwan,
China", ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 113, pp 1-10,
2005.
[4]
Kelly, T, :Minges,M. and Gray, V., "World Telecommunication Development
Report 2002: Reinventing Telecoms, Executive Summary", International
Telecommunication Union, pp 3-11, 2002.
[5]
Priyam, S., "Bangladesh Telecommunications Report 2005", BIS Shrapnel,
Australia, ,pp 2-3, 2006.
[6]
Srivastava, L., "Social and Hwnan Considerations for a More Mobile World",
International Telecommuniwtion Union, pp 20.25, 2004.
[7]
"Chinese Wireless Value-added Services Market Has Room to Grow"
published 'in www.fiercemobilecontent.com on 16-Mar-2008 pp 1"2,2008.
[8]
Yiswanathan, T., "Telecommunication Switching Systems & Networks",
Prantice-Hall oflndia, pp 15-25, 1997.
[9]
Gupta:S.P. and Gupta M.P., "Business Statistics", 14th revised and enlarged
, .
edition; Sultan Chand and Sons, India, pp 180-190, 2005.
[10] Jie, Cao, "Mobile TV - A great opportunity for WiMAX", Issue-41,
Comnumicate, Huawei Publications, June 2008
,
Survey Questionnaire
Opportunity and Outlook for Mobile Value Added Service CVAS)in Bangladesb
A. Respondent's Infonnation:
.1. Name:
2. Gender:
Da. Male
Db,
Female
3. Age
Da.
Below18YrsDb.
18-25 Yrs
De.
26-35 Yrs
Dd.
Above35 Yrs
4. SEC(Socio-Economic
Code);
Unskilled Labour
Skilled Labour
Small Brniness
Clerk ISalesman
S.
isor
Shu Owner
House Owner
lUlior Officer
Seoior Officer
Self-EmPlO~~ (Dr,
nLaer
Brninessman
1-9 Empl0 ces' ,
Bosinessman
> 9 Emoloveesl
,,
,
,
•
Illiterate!
Can 5irn
,
Class-V
ID
"
"
"
;
""
5
S
C
,
"" "
D
"
"D
"D
HSC
Graduates
s
•
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
B
C
B
D
D
D
D
C
C
Masters
Ph.D.
C
C
8
C
B
,
C
C
C
C
C
,
B
D
B
C
A
C
A
A
A
B
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
C
C
C
C
C
C
"
"
" "
C
B
C
C
B
C
B
;
sse
D
D
A
"
"D
roX
D
C
D
8
,
""
Class.VI
B
.5. ResidenceDistrict:
Da,
Ruralarea
Db.
Sub-urbanareaEJUrban area
6, MonthlyIncome(TK.)
On. None
Db.
<5,000 Dc.
5,001-10,000Dd.
10,001-20,000De.
>20,000
7: Sincewhenareyouusingmobilephone?
. Oa.
2003(-)
Db.
2004 Q.2005
Dd.2006
De.
2007(+)
B. Questionnaire:
I. Whatis the mainbenefitofSMS?
On. Cheaperthanvoicecall
Db.
Canbe sent/receivedin verylowsignal(coverage)or batterylevel
Dc.
Canbe usedmeeting/noisyplace
. Dd.
Aboveall
2.: Whichofthe;fol1owing
servicescanbe availedvia SMS?
Da.Banking
Db.
Chatting
Dc.
BillsPay
. .Dd.News.,
De.
Votingin competition
Df. Resultof PublieExamination(SSC,HSC)
Dg.lntemet
Browsing
Dh.Email
3. HowmanySMSdo you sendpermonth(ORask perday andcalculateper month)?
_2003 ! Oa.
None 0.1-30
Dc.
31-60 c==Jd.61-150 ~.above
150
150
2604 : Oa.
N?ne Db.
1-30
Dc.
31-60 Dd.6H50
C]e.above
2005 Oa.
N~ne Db.
1-30
Dc.
31-60 Dd.61-150
De.abovel50
2006 Oa.
None Db.
1-30
Dc.
31-60 Dd.
2007 []a.
None 0.1-30
0.31-60
61-150 De.
c==Jd.6H50
above150
De.above150
4. Whatis the mainbenefitofMMS(MultimediaService)?
Dn.
Cheaperthanvoicecall
Db.
UsedforseMingpicture/audio/video
file
Dc.
Canbe sentsent/receivedviaanymobileset
Dd. Aboveall
. 5. HowmanyMMSdo yousendper month(ORaskper dayand calculatepermonth)?
2003 Oa.N~ne
2004 Oa.
2005
0.1-15
N~ne Db.
1-15
D.N~n~ D. H5
2006 []a.
None Db.
2007 Oa.None
0.1-15
1-15
Dc.
16-30 Dd.31-90
D.above90
Dc.
16-30 Dd.
De.
above90
D. ](;.-30Dd.31-90
De.
above90
D.
16-30 c==Jd.31-90
C}.above90
Dc.
16-30 Dd.
C]e.above90
'"'
31-90
31-90
6. WhatisthemainbenefitofVMS(VoiceMessageService)?
Da.
CallingpartycanleavevoicemessagewhenCalledpartyisnotavailable
Db.
Callingpartycansendrecorded
voiceto anynumber
Dc.
CalHngparty
cansendRingTonetoanynwnber
Dd.
Noneofabove
7. HowoftendoyoutakeVMSservicepermonth?
2003 Oa.
None Db.
1-5
C]c.6-10
2004 Oa.
None Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 D.Il-15
De. above15
Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 D.Il-15
De.
above15
None Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 D.Il-15
De.
above15
1-5
Dc.
6-10 D.Il-15
De.
above15
2005 Oa.None
2006 Oa.
'2007 Oa.None
Db.
D.Il-15
De.
above15
8. HowoftendoyouchangeyourCallBackToneperyear(Welcome
Tune,Arnar
Tune)?
Oc,6-IO
2005 Oa.
O.H
None Db. 1-5
None Db. 1-5
2006 Oa.
None
Db. 1-5
None Db. 1-5
Dc. 6-10
Dc. 6-10
2003 Oa.
2004 ' Oa.
2007 Da.
None
Dd,11-15
De.
above15
above15
Dc.
6-10 Dd.II-15
De.
Dc.
6-10 Dd.Il-15
De,abovet5
Dd.Il-15
De.
above15
Dd.Il-15
De.
above15
9. HowoftendoyouchangeyourRingToneperyear?
2003 Oa.None
Db.
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.II-15
De.
above15
2004 Oa.
N~ne Db.
1-5
Oe.6-10
Dd.ll-15
De,
above15
2005 Oa.
N~n~ Db.
1-5
De.6-1O
Dd.1l-15
De,
above15
Db.
1-5
De.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
None Db.
1-5
De.6-1O
Dd.1l-15
De.
above15
2006 Oa.None
2007 Da.
10.Howoftendoyouchange/purchase
Wallpaper
onyourmobileperyear?
2003 Oa.
None Db.
1-5
De.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
'2004 Oa.
None Db.
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.1l-15
De.
above15
2005
D.None Db.
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.ll-15
De.
above15
2006
Da None
. , Db.
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.ll-15
De.
above15
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.ll-15
De.
above15
2007
D.None Db.
II. Howoftendoyoudownload/purchase
mobilegamesperyear?
.2003 C]a.None
0.1-5
2004 [:Ja. None Db.
1-5
D.6-10
Dd.II-15
De.
above15
L:}.6-1O
Dd.ll-15
De.
above15
'"'
2005 D.
None 0.1-5
c==Jp.6-10 c==Jd.11-15 c==Je.above15
2006 []a.
None 0.1-5
~.6-10
2007 D.
None
O. H
c==Jd.II-15
c==Je.above15
c==Jc.6-10 c==Jd.11-15 c==Je.above15
. 12.Howoftendoyoucheckyourhoroscope
usingmobilephonepermonth?
2003 Da.
None
2004 Da.
2005 Da.
O. H
c==Je.6-10 c==Jd.1H5
c==Je.above15
None c==Jb.1-5
c==Jc.6-10 c==Jd.1H5
c==Je.above15
None c==Jb.1-5
c==Jc.6-10 c==Jd.11-15 c==Je.above15
2006 D.None
0.1-5
c==Je.6-10 c==Jd.lH5
2007 D.None
c==Jb.I-5
~.6-1O
c==Je.above15
c==Jd.11-15 c==Je.above15
13.Howoftendoyoutakenewsserviceusingmobilephonepermonth?
2003 D.None
O. 1-5
~.6-10
c==Jd.11-15 c==Je.above15
2004 Da.None
0.1-5
~.6-1O
0.11-15
De.
above15
2005 Da.Nolle
Db.
~.6-10
0.11-15
De.
above15
2006 ,Da.Nolle,
0.1-5
~.6-10
0.11-15
De.
above15
.2007 DaNOlle
0.1-5
0.6-10
0.11-15
De.
above15
1-5
14.Howoftendoyoudownload
recipeusingmobilephonepermonth?
2003 Da.None
0.1-5
~.6-1O
2004 Da.None
0.1-5
c==Jc.6-IO 0.11-15
2005 Da.None
c==Jb.I-5
c==Jc.6-IO c==Jd.11-15 C]e.above IS
2006 Da.
None
Db.
,
2007 Da.Nfme
Db.
0.11-15
1-5
c==Jc.6-IO Dd.
1-5
Dc.6-IO
IH5
Dd.11-15
C]e.above IS
De.
C]e.
aboveIS
aboveIS
C]e.above IS
IS.Howoftendoyoudownload
jokesusingmobilephonepermonth?
2003 Da.
None c==Jb.I-5
Dc.6-IO
Dd.
11-15
D.aboveIS
2004 Da.
None Db.
Dc.6-IO
Dd.
II-IS
C]e.
aboveIS
2005 Da.
None 0.1-5
De.6-10
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
2006 Da.
None,Db.
1-5
Dc.6-IO
Dd.II-15
c==Je.aboveIS
1-5
De.6-IO
Dd.IH5
De.
"
"
2007 ; Da.None
Db.
1-5
above15
16.Howoftendoyousendfavouritesongoryourrecordedvoiceto someonepermonth?
2003 Da.
None Db.
2004 Da.None
2005 Da.
1-5
c==Jb.I-5
None Db.
1-5
De.6-10
Dd.
11-15
above15
c==Jc.6-10 c==Jd.11-15 Oe.abovel5
De.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
Od.11-15
Oe.abovel5
1006 , Da.None
Db.I-5
De.6-1O
2007 Da.None
Db.
c==Jc.6-lO Od.1H5
1-5
De.
'00
Oe.
above15
above15
17.Howoftendo youuse MobileInternetpermonth?
O.H
O.H
D.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
D.6-10
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
2005 Da.None
Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 0.IH5
De.
aboveIS
2006 Da.None
Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 0.11-15
D.above
2007 Da.None
Db.
1-5
Dc.
6-10 Dd.II-15
D.abovel5
2003 D.None
-2004 Da.None
15
18.Whatis youropinionabouttariffof InternetusingMobilephone?
. Da.
Too'expensive
Db.
Reasonable
Dc.
Too Cheap
Od.
No eom~ents
19.Whatis youropinionabouttariffofSMS/MMSNMS?
, .
Da.
Tooexpensive
. Db.
Reasonable
Dc.
Too Cheap
Dd.
No eomme~ts
20.Whatis youropinionabouttariffofInfolEntertainmenl
VAS(Ringtone,Call-back
! tone,songdedication,
news,horoscope,recipe,gamesetc.)
G::Ja Tooexpensive
. Db.
Reasonable
Dc.
TooCheap
Dd.
No comments
21.Haveyou activatedyourMeA to getmissedcallinfowhenphoneis OFF?
Da.DonotknowMCA
Db.
Yes
E]No
.22. Doyouknowthat youcan get24 hourstele-medicineserviceusingmobilephone?
,
,
[Ja.Yes
Db. No
23.Howoftendo youtaketele-medicincservice(OP789)usingmobilephoneperyear?
2003 ! Da.
None, Db.
1-5
De.6-1O
Dd.
2004 Da.
None Db.
1-5
Dc.6-1O
11-15
De.
above15
Dd.lH5
De.
above15
2005 -DaNone
D.I-5
D.6-10
0.IH5
D.abovel5
2006 Da.None
Db.l-5
D.6-10
0.IH5
De.
above15
De.6-IO
Od.
De.
above15
2007 Da.
None D.I-5
'"'
11-15
24.HowmanyConferencecalldoyoumakepermonth(askperdayandcalculateper
month)?
. 2003 Oa.
2004
None 0.1-15
c==JF.16-30 Dd.31-90
De.
above90
0. None 0.1-15
O. 16-30 Dd.31-90
De.
above90
c==Jd.31-90
De.
above90
above90
2005 Oa.
None 0.1-15
0.16-30
2006 Oa.
None 0.1-15
Dc.
16-30 c==Jd.31-90
De.
2007 Oa.
None Db.
Dc.
H)-30c==Jd.31-90
D.above90
1-15
.25. Howmanypeoplecantalkin conference
call?
Oa.
Donotknow Db.
4
Dc.
5
Dd.
6
De. 10
26. Whatisthemainbenefitof havingInternational
Roaming?
Oa.
It is verycheap
Ob.
Samenumbercanbeusedduringtravelingoverseas
. Dc.
Dd.
Samenumbercanbeusedduringtravelingin wholeBangladesh
Aboveall
27.HowoftcnyoutakeInternational
Roamingserviceperyear?
Db.
1-5
Dc.6-IO
Dd.I1-15
C]e.above
None Db.
1-5
Dc.6-lO
Dd.II-15
De.
above15
Dc.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
D.6-1O
Dd.11-15
De.
above15
c==JF.6-1O Dd.11-15
De.
above15
2003 Oa.None
2004 Oa.
2005 [J..None , 0.1-5
'2006 [J..Non~
O.H
O.H
2007 C]a.None
15
28.Howoftendoy?UsendEmail(SMSemail)usingMobilephonepermonth?
O.H
0.6-10
0.11-15
De.
0.1-5
0.6-10
c==Jd.11-15
D.above
0.1-5
Dc.6-10
0.11-15
C]e.aboveI5
N?ne 0.1-5
Dc.6-IO
Dd.I1-15
De.
above15
Dc.6-10
Dd.ll-15
De.
above15
2003 C]a.None
2004 Da.None
"
2007 Da.None
Db.l-S
29.AreyouusingmobilehandsethavingGPRSIEDGE
feature?
Da. Yes
15
,
.2005 Oa.None
2006 Oa.
above15
Db. No
W"
30. What are the other VAS do you want in future? [Multiple answer is OK]
Da.
M-commerce (instant money transfer using mobile phone)
Db.
Mobile-TV or IPTV
Dc.
Mobile Portal/website (lnternct - Google pages)
Dd.
Video Call/Conference
De.
Video Tele-services
.Of. Social Networking
(Intemet,
Facebook, Linkedln etc.)
[Jg. Video Mailbox
Dh.
,
Mobile ne~ork game
D1. M- Advertising (Advertising using Mobile phone)
D.Purchase Ticket (BusITrainlBiman/Entertainment show)
w.
I