Government and Politics: Interference and Opportunity 2011 will be remembered as the year that the government started cracking down and limiting the freedom of speech on the Internet. Perhaps shaken by the success of the India Against Corruption mobilisation via mobile and social media, the government fought back by cracking down on social media, TV … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 10
Entrepreneurs: Optimism Abounds The past year has seen at least a few private companies like Flipkart and InMobi with valuations rising to the magical billion-dollar mark. eCommerce companies of all shapes and sizes have been at the receiving end of dollops of dollars. That is good. While there will be many failures, there will be … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 8
Marketing: Multiple options Digital media options are proliferating. Marketers now talk of paid, owned and earned media. Paid media is the search and display ads that companies run. Owned media is the properties that are created – for example, Facebook pages and mobile apps. Earned media is the multiplier effect from users spreading the word … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 9
Bandwidth: Frozen in time India’s data pipes scenario doesn’t look that good in the near-term. The wireline networks are almost entirely dependent on a broke BSNL and a meandering MTNL. As a result, we are not seeing the high-speed networks that should have been ubiquitous by now. By not unbundling the local loop (last mile), … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 6
Mobile Payments: Mired in regulation One of the big boosters for monetisation on the Internet and eCommerce can come from enabling mobile payments. Here, regulation by RBI and the payout regime from the DoT has ensured that mass-scale mobile payments remain a mirage. Imagine being able to pay for a book you bought by just … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 7
Video : Variety and Vroom If Facebook is synonymous with social networking, YouTube is the same with video. In terms of viewers, it is the 10th largest TV channel in India, if one sees it thus. As bandwidth costs have become flatter, video usage has increased, both on wireline and mobile networks. Hundreds of movies … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 5
Social: Surging Social media, led by Facebook’s virtual monopoly, is driving the daily use of the Internet in India. One never wants to be away from friends and the extended family for too long! Old classmates are being found, photos are being shared and tagged, the day’s trivia make up the personal headlines. Social media … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 3
Mobile: Missing Data The mobile revolution in India has seen an amazing decade of growth. With nearly 900 million SIMs distributed to 500+ million Indians, the mobile has done for communications what the landline telephone never did. The voice revolution in India is finally complete. Pretty much everyone who chooses to be connected can do … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 4
I used to do a Trends list every year until a few years ago. Then, inexplicably, I stopped. Perhaps, it was more out of disappointment at the slow pace of change in the Indian Internet and Mobile Data space. Things are finally changing, as users, money and tech are helping bring about an acceleration in … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 1
eCommerce: Rising Undoubtedly, the biggest story on the Internet in India is that of the dramatic rise of eCommerce. People are becoming comfortable buying all sorts of things over the Internet. Companies have also set up better logistics for distribution and collecting money on delivery. Consumers are willing to trust sites since they can choose … Continue reading Digital India 2012 Trends – Part 2
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