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• OTT Platforms Emerge As Focal Point for Telecom, DTH Operators
• Bharti Airtel Will Not Compete the Jio Way
• Nokia C20 Plus Review After One Month: Almost Decent
• Reliance Jio Might Increase Expected Price of Its 4G Phone
• JioFiber Rs 2499 Broadband Plan Better Than ACT Essential

OTT Platforms Emerge As Focal Point for Telecom, DTH Operators Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:40 AM PDT Vodafone Idea on Tuesday said that the "telecom industry is undergoing a digital transformation" due to the "growing" consumption of over-the-top (OTT) platforms along with the Internet of Things (IoT) "acceleration." The operator shared the development in its annual report with Vodafone Idea also highlighting that the telecom operators are "transitioning from being pure telecom service providers to integrated digital service providers." Vodafone Idea said that the operators are providing a "suite of digital service applications, own as well as through partnerships" along with the basic voice and data services. OTT Platforms Are Here to Stay The third-largest wireless operator in India highlighted that it has tied up with multiple OTT platforms like Voot Select, Sun NXT and Lionsgate Play to offer "best in class content" to its users. However, Vodafone Idea said that the telecom operators in addition to entertainment content also provide information, cloud and storage services. "This, in turn, is opening up several new revenue streams for the operators in the long run," Vodafone Idea said in its annual report. Further, the operator said that it has tied up with "leading content providers" such as Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5 and Netflix for its "premium" users. "In recent partnerships, Vi has collaborated with Hungama to launch Pay Per View Model for premiering digital films from Hollywood at a one time cost," Vodafone Idea said in its annual report. "This unique offering is available only on Vi amongst telecom operators for its postpaid Android users and provides a library of 350 titles in 4 languages." OTT platforms have certainly gained significance not just among telecom operators but also Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators who are now partnering with OTT players to emerge as a one-stop destination for all entertainment content. Dish TV India in its annual report released in late August highlighted that 2.8 crore users across India together account for 5.3 crores paid OTT subscriptions. The third-largest DTH operator in India said that the number was around 1.05 crores users in 2019, translating to a 49% growth in 2020. "There is a continuous pressure on retention of subscribers due to various alternates available for entertainment at various price points," Dish TV India said in its annual report. "There is a huge push for online contemporary content provided by various paid / free OTT platforms attracting youth and students across the income strata." The operator highlighted that it launched hybrid Set-Top Boxes (STB) such as DishSMRT HUB to "meet the needs" of its users who "access linear as well as non-linear content on their television sets." Dish TV India also highlighted that it has partnered with "leading players in OTT and entertainment space" space like Zee5, Amazon Prime Video and Sony Liv to introduce their services onto its hybrid devices. "We will continue to collaborate with technology partners for carrying out the enhancements for our connected devices, maintain and enter into strategic partnership and collaboration with leading players in the OTT and entertainment space to bring best in class entertainment to our customers," Dish TV India said in its annual report. Total Active DTH Users Dip in India Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in its Performance Indicators report for the period ended March 2021, highlighted that the total active paid DTH users have dipped to 6.957 crores. The report released by Trai in late August also highlights that the total active paid DTH user base in India was just over 7 crores in the quarter ended March 31, 2020. According to the Trai data, the total active paid DTH user base continued to increase in the following quarters with the user base hitting 7.099 crores in the quarter ended December 31, 2020. "There was a major shift in the consumer behaviour reflected in the higher number of OTT consumption both in terms of time and amount spent by the consumer," Dish TV India said in its annual report. Edelweiss Research, a leading domestic institutional brokerage house, said in a note that it expects OTTs to "co-exist" with cinema theatres in India. The firm highlighted that a "number of originals" are set to hit the OTT platforms during the upcoming festive season. "OTT platforms have also stepped up their content in terms of new originals and non-fiction shows as the pandemic has resulted in a lasting shift in consumers' behaviour towards online content consumption, particularly originals and series," Edelweiss Research said in its note.

Bharti Airtel Will Not Compete the Jio Way Posted: 12 Sep 2021 03:59 AM PDT Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom operator in India, is often compared to Reliance Jio, which sits at the top in the market in terms of subscribers market share. Both the telcos deploy different strategies for acquiring new customers. Airtel has been one company that has been able to bounce back after the aftermath that Jio's entry created in the market. The reason why Airtel could do that was believing in its own strategies and creating a good brand and a strong ecosystem for customers. Recent comments from Sunil Bharti Mittal suggests that Airtel isn't going to change its strategy anytime soon. The telco isn't afraid of the affordable 4G smartphone move made by Jio. Reliance Jio is expected to come out with its affordable 4G device by Diwali. Reliance Jio Only Company to Offer Subsidised Phones in India, Airtel Will Not follow According to a Financial Express report, at a recently held analyst conference, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said a subsidy-driven subscriber addition model would not work in India, especially when it hasn't worked in other parts of the world. Thus, Bharti Airtel will not follow Jio in offering a subsidised affordable 4G smartphone or feature phone to customers. Studying the other markets, it was evident for Airtel that once the subsidies are slowly phased out, customers don't want to stay in the networks of the company any longer. Consumers tend to switch service providers once the subsidies are driven out. Thus, the strategy won't work for the long term, and Bharti Airtel will not entertain it. Further, consumers don't want to stay with low-end smartphones. As soon as they can, people upgrade to a new and better quality smartphone. Bharti Airtel will instead develop its own way and method for capturing a larger market share. It is worth noting that while Airtel doesn't want to follow Jio's strategy, the company is welcoming of the affordable 4G smartphone that's about to launch by the festive season of Diwali this year. Airtel said that it is welcoming of the 4G smartphone developed by Jio and Google because it will push more people to come online. This will not just be beneficial for Jio but also the competitors in the long run. If rumours are to be believed, Bharti Airtel is looking at partnerships with smartphone makers in a more long-term way. Instead of offering subsidised smartphones, Airtel may partner with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to offer cashbacks to customers on purchasing SIM locked smartphones.

Nokia C20 Plus Review After One Month: Almost Decent Posted: 12 Sep 2021 01:40 AM PDT Nokia has been trying to increase its market share in the very affordable 4G smartphone market in India. The company has come out with multiple smartphones at the Rs 10,000 price point, but nothing has ever really made a huge impact. A couple of weeks back, Nokia announced the Nokia C20 Plus. I have been using the device for more than a month now, and frankly, I couldn't complain a lot except for what Nokia has done with the camera. Let me show you. Nokia C20 Plus Review: Design, Body and Display In terms of design, Nokia C20 Plus is one of the most attractive affordable smartphones in the market. It has a circular camera bump at the rear, and the front camera is housed in the tear-drop notch at the top center. The Nokia branding at the rear is just classy, and the Grey colour variant just looks awesome. The speaker is at the rear bottom while there is no Google Assistant button. The power button is at the right, and just above it are the volume rockers. The charging port is at the bottom, and the device doesn't support fast charging, which is understandable. The body is completely made of plastic, but it still feels good in the hands. It is quite bulky, so gaming on it for long hours will take its toll on your wrists. There's nothing very special about the design, yet it looks good. Maybe the fact that it comes with a simple design is helping it win. Moving on, the Nokia C20 Plus has a 6.5-inch display. I like how responsive it is. The colours and brightness aren't the best, but what more can you expect out of a device at this price point. The animations are really quick, but to be frank, I wasn't using a lot of applications, and one month is still short enough to say whether the processor and the UI will be as smooth as it is right now after a few more months. The brightness of the device is as good as Nokia G20 (review), even though there's a huge difference in the price at which both come. The bezels around the side don't bother me much, but the Nokia branding at the bottom could have been left out, and Nokia could have focused on making the device even more beautiful. One thing that I like about holding the Nokia C20 Plus is that I can use it in one hand. Usually, 6.5-inch devices can't be used by one hand, and that can be a bummer. Nokia C20 Plus Review: Performance, Battery In terms of performance, the Nokia C20 Plus is decent for the specifications it has. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.6 GHz coupled with up to 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Nokia C20 Plus runs on Android 11 Go Edition out of the box and can support multiple LTE 4G bands. There is support for the Face Unlock feature, which is very convenient since there is no fingerprint sensor. It is not built for heavy gaming. The RAM is even too little to load heavy applications and then run them smoothly. Even the processor won't be able to manage the heavy load. However, you can run basic streaming applications and even low-key games which are not very graphic demanding comfortably. At this price range, heavy gaming shouldn't even be expected from the company. One of the most impressive things about the smartphone is its 5,000mAh battery. It can't support fast charging, but the UI is well optimised so that there is no battery drainage. I could just use the Nokia C20 Plus for up to 2 days with basic usage. The presence of a 3.5mm audio jack is just sweet because I really love wired earphones when I want to hear something in the highest quality possible. The Nokia C20 Plus is very good at handling basic tasks and commands. Even the applications didn't take a lot of time to load. Nokia C20 Plus Review: Camera The camera is something Nokia can work at. The Nokia C20 Plus is an affordable device, but I have seen better cameras at this price range. It is not just about the camera lens but about the software. Even the slightly higher priced Nokia G20 didn't possess a decent image processing capability. The front camera comes with a 5MP lens, and the image from it just doesn't have the most natural colours. However, for some reason, it took better selfies than the Nokia G20 I had used recently. But I applaud the front sensor for capturing the details right. If only colours could be more accurate, it would have been better. Nokia C20 Plus selfie There's not much on offer with the rear camera. The portrait mode honestly doesn't do a lot, and the primary rear sensor isn't very good at capturing details or colours. The images look too artificial. The focus is quite better than what I saw in the Nokia G20. I don't know why the Nokia G20 impressed me much lesser than the Nokia C20 Plus when the former is the more premium gadget. Regardless, there isn't much to cover in the camera department. Just one more thing, the images take their while in getting processed, so don't move the camera too fast. Normal Mode Portrait Mode Nokia C20 Plus Review: Price and Conclusion The Nokia C20 Plus is available in India for Rs 8,999 for the 2GB+32GB variant and Rs 9,999 for the 3GB+32GB variant. The Nokia C20 Plus can be purchased for a 10% discount by Jio users (old and new). It is available in Grey and Blue colours. Users also get benefits worth Rs 4,000 from Jio. The company is promising a 1-year replacement guarantee on this smartphone which means you can use it without any worries. Overall, the Nokia C20 Plus is an almost decent device for the price. Since the camera is such a major feature, I expected it to be a little more smooth experience. However, if you are budget bound, then this device can be a good buy. It can do almost everything an entry-level smartphone can do, and its battery is amazing. It can be a good buy at a discounted rate with the Jio offer.

Reliance Jio Might Increase Expected Price of Its 4G Phone Posted: 11 Sep 2021 09:48 PM PDT Reliance Jio, India's largest telecom operator, might increase the price of its upcoming 4G smartphone, namely JioPhone Next. For the unaware, the JioPhone Next has been developed by Reliance Jio in partnership with Google. The aim of both the companies was to build a 4G smartphone that is not only good in terms of hardware and software but is also super affordable at the same time. But this aim of Reliance Jio and Google might go down the drain looking at the recent developments. The telco recently announced that it is pushing the launch date of the smartphone ahead of its original launch schedule of September 10, 2021. Now the company has said that it will launch the JioPhone Next by the festive season of Diwali. The reason why Jio said that it would be delaying the launch of the smartphone is that it is still in the advanced stages of testing it with individual users. But looking at the market situation right now, Jio might be making the smartphones for a higher cost than it had initially assumed. The prices of the components of building a smartphone have increased by a substantial margin, and many companies have launched expensive smartphones. Some even increased the price of already launched products in the market. JioPhone Next Might Not Come With the Kind of Subsidy People Are Expecting It to Reliance Jio's super affordable 4G smartphone called JioPhone Next might not come at the kind of price and with subsidies that people are expecting it to come with. The telco must be facing an increased cost of manufacturing its smartphones. Just so that the end price of the smartphone doesn't increase, Jio might go ahead with a different policy of selling the JioPhone Next in India. The telco might decrease the subsidy it had initially planned to offer with the smartphone. If subsidies are less, the MRP doesn't get affected, but Jio still gets to earn more out of its customers' pockets. This won't be an unfair move from the telco. Reliance Jio has been trying to make India 2G free, and this smartphone is aimed to help with that. But with the increased price, just how much it will push the customers into buying it is something worth looking at. If Reliance Jio launches the JioPhone Next with bundled prepaid plans that come with amazing data benefits, that might change the game for the telco. Right now, nothing can be said. Whether Reliance Jio will go ahead with the less subsidy route or will it directly increase the price of the smartphone, only time will tell.

JioFiber Rs 2499 Broadband Plan Better Than ACT Essential Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:42 PM PDT JioFiber, the fiber broadband arm of Reliance Jio has become one of the most popular broadband services providers in India. The company has joined the ranks of Airtel and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in a very short time when it comes to being the best internet service providers (ISPs). There are a ton of prepaid and postpaid broadband plans you can choose from the offerings of JioFiber. Today, we are going to take the Rs 2,499 broadband plan from JioFiber and compare it with the closest offering of ACT Fibernet. Here's everything you should know. JioFiber Rs 2499 Broadband Plan The Rs 2,499 broadband plan from JioFiber comes with 500 Mbps speed. But this is not the speciality of the plan. The major benefit offered with this plan is that of the over-the-top (OTT) benefits. Users get a total of 16 OTT benefits with the Rs 2,499 broadband plan from JioFiber. Here are all the OTT benefits you will receive when you purchase this plan – Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5 Premium, SonyLIV, Voot Select, Netflix Standard, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot Kids, Lionsgate Play, Hoichoi, SunNXT, JioCinema, Discovery+, ALT Balaji, Eros Now, ShemarooMe, and JioSaavn. On top of these benefits, users also get a free landline connection with unlimited voice calling benefits and a free Set-Top Box (STB) from the company. The STB can run all the major OTT applications. Thus the OTT benefits that you get with this plan can help you watch amazing entertaining content directly on your TV with the help of the Jio Set-Top Box. Users are further entitled to receive 3.3TB or 3,300GB of monthly data with the plan. Further, the speeds offered with this plan are uniform meaning users will get the same download and upload speed of 500 Mbps. Now let's take a look at the ACT Essential broadband plan that is a little similar to this plan from Jio. ACT Essential Broadband Plan ACT Essential broadband plan is available to the users for Rs 2,999. Even though this plan costs more than the above mentioned JioFiber's plan, it offers lesser speed. The ACT Essential plan offers 400 Mbps speed to the users. Further, the OTT benefits are just for namesake since users get one month trial of ZEE5, Epic On, and Cult.fit. The other OTT benefits offered by the plan all come for a monthly or a yearly cost. In no world, this plan from ACT can beat the offering that Jio is providing. ACT seriously needs to focus on its consumer business and roll out more affordable plans.

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