Back in 2008, when I joined college after completing my Std X, SMS packs were very common. In fact, everyone boasted to have a larger pack (they ended up spamming actually). As far as I can recollect, Vodafone used to have plans like Rs. 20 for 100 SMSs to Rs. 50 for 2000 of them. Today, 6 years later, the only texts I receive are from brands to inform me about the upcoming sale or from builders offering “affordable” flats in Mumbai. And I don’t even remember when was the last time I sent a text to someone. So what has changed so drastically? Below are some product offerings of telecom operators that have been ruined by this one now ubiquitous thing called the Internet.
1) SMS – Instant Messengers such as Whatsapp, WeChat, Line, etc allow one to send unlimited to messages to an individual or group. And, the best part about them is that you don’t have to pay a rupee for every message sent. Each messages uses a few kilobytes of your data plan, which turns out to be much cheaper. Even better when you’re on WiFi, since you’re paying a fixed amount per month for virtually unlimited internet.
2) MMS – People in India specifically will associate MMS with scandalous clips that hit virality. But beyond those, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was supposed to give telcos five times the revenue of an SMS (at the cost of Rs. 5 per MMS) for sending audio-visual content. But alas, the above mentioned IMs also lets you send pictures/audio messages.
3) International Calls – Where a call to a foreign destination via a mobile phone costs anywhere between Rs. 6/min to Rs. 15/min, services Skype and the lot do the same at a fraction of the cost. For example, a call made to the US using the Nimbuzz costs just one rupee (1.59 US cents) per minute. Plus, thanks to smartphones, you don’t have to be tethered to a computer while making these calls; you can just install the app on your smartphone and talk like you typically do. Better yet, if the person on the other end is also using the same service, then you can talk for free for as long as you want.
4) 3G Video Calling – This feature never really got popular probably because when it was introduced, 3G plans were really expensive. Also, put in the fact that phones with front-facing cameras also weren’t common-fare. And now, apps like Skype, Viber, Facetime etc do offer the same service, costing you only your internet bandwidth and nothing more.
5) Value Added Services – A service like Vodafone Flash which use to provide news, cricket scores, jokes, etc. is also a matter of past. Now an app on my phone solves the news/scores part and some random 20K free jokes in the App Store can easily provide me a laugh or two.
So, is it that these providers aren’t making money besides regular phone calls? One fact we may forget is that most of the above services need an internet connection. WiFi obviously is not available everywhere so an internet pack would be the best option. A typical 1GB of 3G data pack costs as much as what people’s phone bills used to be back in the day. So basically, data packs are the new SMS packs. Companies are offering faster and larger amount of data at cheaper prices. But as a consumer, I’m definitely not complaining.
