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Kripa Raman

Asians seem to have an aversion to leaving recorded voice messages and prefer the non-intrusive SMS instead. It's a question of being more `visually oriented.'

THE discovery that Asians are more `visually oriented' is happy news for LogicaCMG, a company with a global presence in the mobile messaging and services industry.

Asians have an aversion to leaving recorded voice messages and prefer the non-intrusive SMS instead, says Louwke van der Steen, Managing Director, South Asia, LogicaCMG. "This is why data services (SMS and other services) account for a relatively high percentage of mobile services revenues in Asia: In Thailand it is as high as 40 per cent, in Singapore it is 20 per cent.''

In Europe, by contrast, it is only 10 per cent to 15 per cent of subscriber billing. "It is a cultural difference," says Frank Lodewick, Customer Development Manager for Asia Pacific at LogicaCMG. "In Asia, voicemail is not so popular, the idea of speaking into a machine is very strange to Asians. We find that Asians are also more visually oriented."

In India, the story is a little different, with data services accounting for only five per cent of subscriber revenues. Part of the reason is that there are so many languages used. So it would be some time before several sections of cellular subscribers get used to using an English keyboard to send messages.

However, everywhere, no matter how large or small a percentage of revenue it accounts for, SMS is only growing, says Louwke. With a five-per cent revenue input, SMS is set to grow hugely in India, says Lodewick. The estimate for the country is currently around 12 million to 15 million messages per day. This constitutes less than .01 per cent of the 1.3 billion messages per day sent worldwide.

LogicaCMG claims that 70 per cent of SMS messages sent through GSM networks worldwide, and 80 per cent through CDMA networks worldwide, use its systems.

It provides MultiMedia Messaging solutions as well as Unified Messaging; and has provided a total messaging solution for the 3G network of Hutchison in South-East Asia comprising SMS, MMS and Unified Messaging.

In India, LogicaCMG has delivered messaging solutions to customers such as BSNL, MTNL, Bharti, Tata Teleservies and the like.

According to Louwke, mobile companies can significantly improve Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), currently falling in the country, through data services. One of the promising segments in this area is the prepaid subscriber, who is generally younger and shows greater inclination towards the use of new technologies and facilities.

The prepaid segment constitutes between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the Indian market, whereas it accounts for 90 per cent of the market in Malaysia and 95 per cent in the Phillipines.

"There are several applications available. Interactive messages for one. There are interactive TV contests in the US, which involve use of the SMS facility. Then MMS could be used by advertisers," says Louwke.

As GPRS networks are introduced across the cellular world, more operators will be deploying MMS facilities, he says.

The handset pricing of GPRS-enabled units would have to reduce to generate a substantial market for MMS.

In the Phillipines, there are traffic cameras, which give commuters some idea of where the traffic blocks exist. In Singapore, real-estate agents offer MMS pictures of flats to clients so that some preliminary selection is possible, saving the clients many a site visit.

Card companies, such as Hallmark, are eager to offer their cards on MMS. Eventually it could become another marketing channel much like television or radio, says Louwke.

kripram@thehindu.co.in

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