Let us dig a little more into A2P SMS. There are four types of A2P SMS:
- Consumer – Opt-in: These are messages we receive for free when we subscribe (opt-in) to an SMS channel. MyToday offers 40+ editorially controlled SMS channels, while MyToday Mobs, SMS Gupshup and Google SMS channels have thousands of groups in which members publish and send out messages to all members. Opt-in services are primarily monetised via ads which are tagged to the content. So far, ad revenues are not enough to cover the cost of sending the messages. This form of Consumer Opt-in SMS channels is unique to India, and holds great promise to the creation of mobile media. (Twitter has aspects of this but supports SMS delivery only in a few countries). What has facilitated the growth of this business in India is the low cost of A2P SMS delivery
- Business – Transactional: These are messages being sent out by businesses which need to be delivered in near real-time because they are linked with a transaction that a person has done. Many banks now send out instant updates when one does a banking transaction, especially an ATM withdrawal. RBI has also mandated SMS to be used to notify customers for transactions above a certain limit. Some Yellow Pages companies send out the information requested by SMS. Going ahead, we will see tighter integration of SMS into core business processes of companies. This is very convenient because in India SMS, and not email, is what is the lowest common denominator to notify customers.
Continued tomorrow.
