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  • Reviews and recommendations dominate 70% of shopping conversations on Twitter

    Reviews and recommendations dominate 70% of shopping conversations on Twitter

    Mumbai: Shopping is a hot topic in the social space, and especially so during the festive season in India. While shoppers turn to services like Twitter to discuss their big splurge plans, do these conversations about brands and products actually impact sales? With the festive season in full swing, microblogging platform Twitter’s latest #LetsTalkShop report finds out how marketers can engage the festive shopper more effectively.

    Twitter partnered with Publicis to study 2,400 consumers in India on leading social platforms. The study reveals the sentiment that is driving conversations and shopping decisions today, while also throwing light on content consumption patterns and, most importantly, expectations from brands, both in terms of customer service and content.

    Through these insights, Twitter has revealed how brand conversation powers shopping. Twitter wants to help marketers lean into shopping conversations and drive festive success this season.

    Moreover, Diwali conversations on Twitter also open doors for Indian brands to connect and engage with the leaned-in shoppers who are looking to spend during the festivities. The service witnessed more than 3.1 million tweets about Diwali in the festive week (30 October 2021 to 6 November 2021).

    As we head to the festive highs this year, Twitter India country lead-large client solutions, Kanika Mittal said, “Shopping has always been a social experience and the festive season is one of the busiest times of year on Twitter. Today, online brand conversation has become a trusted, everyday part of the shopping process. Our data reveals that 97 per cent of people surveyed seek comments and opinions from others on the service, with reviews and recommendations dominating 70 per cent of shopping conversations. Trust, too, plays a major role. 9 out of 10 consumers are more likely to consider a purchase after seeing someone else’s opinion about a brand or product. In fact, for the majority of shoppers, these spontaneous conversations are as impactful on purchase decisions as traditional reviews. So yes, talk matters.”

    Reviews and recommendations on Twitter take a front-seat during festive shopping

    Connecting with other shoppers to share experiences and make decisions based on these exchanges forms a significant part of today’s tech-savvy consumers’ purchase decisions. As a testament to this, the report indicates that 9 in 10 consumers are more likely to consider a purchase after seeing someone else’s opinion about a brand or product.

    Reviews and recommendations dominate 70 per cent of shopping conversations on Twitter today. For consumers, Twitter has been one of the go-to services for them to help them in their purchase journey, as more than half (51 per cent) of Indian online shoppers agree that ads or tweets on Twitter help them discover new products or brands.

    55 per cent state that reviews and comments on Twitter are more trustworthy than on any other social media platform.

    Consumer Excitement And Buying Inclination During Diwali

    The study reveals that the build-up to the festivities is the most exciting for consumers as 50 per cent of the Diwali conversation on Twitter takes place before the festival, whereas 35 per cent of the conversation happens on the day of the festival.

    92 per cent of festive conversations around Diwali are mostly positive or neutral in tonality, with 75 per cent of mentions of Diwali on Twitter being linked to ‘joy’.

    As brands increasingly tap into the power of click ‘play’ to engage with their audiences, the report notes that 64 per cent of people on Twitter enjoy watching video ads to see what brands have to offer.

    Four in 10 shoppers are on the lookout for deals and promotional offers from brands around Diwali.

    Brand conversations: A beaming opportunity for businesses

    Brand conversation is increasingly becoming influential at every stage of the purchase journey and has the power to influence shopping decisions. As a matter of fact, 93 per cent of Indian shoppers recall brand conversations online before making a purchase.

    In fact, shoppers on Twitter consider 4 out of 5 (80 per cent) of the brand conversations as “trustworthy.” 88 per cent of brand conversations made people feel differently about the brand. Among consumers that made a purchase, 62 per cent said that their experience with brand conversation made them much more likely to consider the purchase.

    Evidently, consumers are increasingly seeking meaningful dialogue with brands. This festive season, engaging audiences beyond ‘clicks’ and moving towards ‘conversations’ is the route that brands must take to drive consideration and purchase behaviour.

  • TRAI makes recommendations on satellite-based connectivity for low bit-rate applications

    TRAI makes recommendations on satellite-based connectivity for low bit-rate applications

    New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released the recommendations on “Licensing Framework for Satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications” for both commercial and captive usage.

    The recommendations come after the Department of Telecom (DoT) highlighted a need for a suitable licensing framework considering the constraints of the existing provisions in respect of proposed Satellite-based low bit-rate services. In its letter dated 23 November 2020, DoT had requested Trai to examine all the factors holistically and make recommendations.

    Low bit-rate applications and IoT devices require low cost, low power, and small size terminals that can effectively perform the task of signal transfer with minimum loss. Many sparsely populated areas with important economic activities suited for IoT-related services may not have terrestrial coverage or other forms of connectivity. Therefore, Satellites can help bridge this gap by providing coverage to even the most remote areas and will help in fulfilling connect India mission.

    Trai had initially issued a consultation paper on 12 March inviting comments and counter-comments from stakeholders by 7 May. “The authority received 29 comments and four counter comments from various stakeholders. An Open House Discussion (OHD) was also convened on the issues raised in the Consultation Paper on dated 2 June 2021 through video conferencing,” said Trai in a media statement.

    The regulator has recommended that for provision of satellite-based connectivity for IoT and low-bit-rate applications, the relevant service licensees may provide connectivity as per the scope of their authorisation for any kind of network topology model including hybrid model, aggregator model and direct-to-satellite model.

    All types of satellite – Geo Stationary Orbit (GSO) and Non-GSO (NGSO) satellites and any of the permitted satellite frequency bands may be used for providing satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity. The Service Licensees should be permitted to obtain satellite bandwidth from foreign satellites in all the permitted satellite bands in order to provide satellite-based services.

    It also recommended that the relevant existing authorisations under the Unified Licensing framework may be suitably amended for enabling satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity. “The government may come out with a road map detailing the schedule of the launch of communication satellites and availability of the domestic satellite capacities in India to facilitate the service licensees to plan and optimise their capacity procurement,” it added.

    Other recommendations include measures to make the services cheaper and affordable like permitting the hiring of foreign capacities for a longer period as per need instead of three to five years, removal of facilitation charges by the government when hiring foreign capacities from the approved list of foreign satellites/satellite systems, etc.

    According to Trai, DoT should also put in place a comprehensive, simplified, end-to-end coordinated, single window online common portal for all the agencies involved in the grant of various approvals/permissions etc, wherein the service licensees can place their request and the agencies respond online in a transparent and time-bound manner.

    Last September, the then chairman of Trai, R S Sharma, had also called for an urgent need to bring down the price of broadband services provided through satellites, asserting that its current high price could pose a challenge in its adoption in the country.

  • TRAI releases recommendations for privacy & protection of consumer data

    TRAI releases recommendations for privacy & protection of consumer data

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with its recommendations on ‘Privacy, security and ownership of data in the telecom sector’.

    It says that since digital ecosystems that collect user data are just custodians and don’t have privacy rights over it, TRAI recommends that a study should be undertaken to formulate the standards for annonymisation/ de-identification of personal data generated and collected in the digital ecosystem.

    All entities in the digital ecosystem, which control or process the data, should be restrained from using meta-data to identify individual users. The existing framework for protection of the personal information/ data of telecom consumers is not sufficient. Therefore, to protect telecom consumers against the misuse of their personal data by the broad range of data controllers and processors in the digital ecosystem, all entities in the digital ecosystem, which control or process their personal data should be brought under a data protection framework.

    Till a government notified law is passed, the existing rules/ licence conditions applicable to TSPs for protection of users’ privacy should be made applicable to all the entities in the digital ecosystem.

    Consumers should be given the right to choice, notice, consent, data portability, and right to be forgotten. The right to data portability and right to be forgotten being restricted rights should be subjected to applicable restrictions.

    Multilingual, easy to understand, unbiased, short templates of agreements/ terms and conditions should be made mandatory for all the entities in the digital eco-system for the benefit of consumers. Consumer awareness programs be undertaken to spread awareness about data protection and privacy issues so that the users can take well informed decisions about their personal data.

    Data controllers should be prohibited from using ‘pre-ticked boxes’ to gain users’ consent. Clauses for data collection and purpose limitation should be incorporated in the agreements. Devices should disclose the terms and conditions of use in advance, before sale of the device. It should be made mandatory for the devices to incorporate provisions so that user can delete pre-installed applications if he/she so decides. Also, the user should be able to download the certified applications at his own will and the devices should in no manner restrict such actions by the users.

    To ensure the privacy of users, National Policy for encryption of personal data, generated and collected in the digital ecosystem, should be notified by the government at the earliest. For ensuring the security of the personal data and privacy of telecommunication consumers, personal data of telecommunication consumers should be encrypted during the motion as well as during the storage in the digital ecosystem. Decryption should be permitted on a need basis by authorised entities in accordance to consent of the consumer or as per requirement of the law.

    A common platform should be created for sharing of information relating to data security breach incidences by all entities in the digital ecosystem including telecom service providers. It should be made mandatory for all entities in the digital ecosystem including all such service providers to be a part of this platform. Data security breaches may take place in-spite of adoption of best practices/ necessary measures taken by the data controllers and processors. Sharing of information concerning to data security breaches should be encouraged and incentivised to prevent/ mitigate such occurrences in future.

  • TRAI suggests simplifying processes for broadcast, cable-related businesses

    TRAI suggests simplifying processes for broadcast, cable-related businesses

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in its bid to ease business norms relating to the broadcast and cable sector, has urged the government to simplify various licensing and clearance processes, putting time limits in some cases.

    The TRAI has also said that the satellite spectrum allocation process undertaken by various government agencies, such as the WPC in the telecom ministry and the ISRO/Department of Space, should be carried out throughout the year instead of “intermittent” opening of such processes.

    Some of the recommendations that have been suggested in its latest ‘Ease of doing Business in Broadcasting Sector’ paper are:

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-extends-dates-for-comments-on-uplinking/downlinking-consultation-paper-180116
    http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-paper-seeks-to-streamline-uplinking-downlinking-norms-171219 
    http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-releases-paper-on-national-telecom-policy-2018-180103

    – The process of granting permission/licence/registration for broadcasting services should be streamlined by removing redundant processes, re-engineering necessary processes and making them efficient using ICT.

    – An integrated portal to be set up by the government for broadcasters, teleport operators and TV channel distributors for filing, processing, tracking applications, payments, frequency assignments, endorsements, renewals etc.

    – Security clearances to be done within 60 days.

    – Setting up a system of self declaration.

    – Total time (including all kinds of ministerial clearances) to not exceed six months for granting licences or permissions.

    – Simpler process for logo, name, format and language change.

    – Create a centre for excellence for broadcasters.

    The TRAI says that the Indian broadcasting sector presents a vibrant picture but it has ‘immense potential to move on to a higher trajectory of growth by removing procedural bottlenecks and making business propositions more attractive.’ It states that checks must be done from time to time to ensure procedures are up to date or removed if no longer needed.

    A consultation paper was issued last year after which an open house was conducted with stakeholders on the topic of ease of doing business.

    Also Read:

    TRAI extends dates for comments on uplinking/downlinking consultation paper

    Trai paper seeks to streamline uplinking, downlinking norms

    TRAI releases paper on National Telecom Policy 2018

  • Guest column: Net neutrality – ensuring an open internet

    Guest column: Net neutrality – ensuring an open internet

    At a time when the US Federal Communications Commission is to vote on a rollback on the Net Neutrality Rules notified during the Obama administration, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has published its recommendations on the subject. Making headlines during the days of Zero Rating and products of the kind, and coming after nearly three years of setting up of a committee by the TRAI to make recommendations in this regard (January 2015), the document attempts to balance the interest of the general public by including ‘internet access services’ within the regulation of net neutrality and excluding “specialised services” that are “optimised for specific content, protocols or user equipment where optimisation is necessary in order to meet specific quality requirements.’’

    Net neutrality, in theory, is a laudable concept. It also finds mention in the UL, VNO and ISP licensing terms notified by the Department of Telecom. The specific mention is absent from the UASL and CMTS licenses. However, this principle can nevertheless be read into the obligation to provide non-discriminatory access even by the telecom service providers. In this background, what is to be considered is whether net neutrality, with its basic principle already enshrined in the law and some contours such as specialised services yet to be clearly defined, is even required to be separately regulated.

    First, net neutrality is, as stated in the recommendations, primarily to address and ensure “public internet access”. Importantly, what has not been considered is how much of this “public” of the country actually has access to broadband. The answer would be in the vicinity of 15 per cent. Of this “preferred public population,” many would be multiple connection/access holders and, hence, the effective penetration of broadband would be less than 12 per cent. With this background, the debate, rather than focusing on net neutrality, should focus on access to broadband for all. It is only when such a objective is achieved that the issue of whether or not we have a neutral internet would really need to be studied.

    Second, OTT, which is one of the aspects central to the debate on net neutrality, has been currently left out for separate consideration. It is unclear, therefore, as to what position is taken vis-à-vis this very important piece of the net neutrality puzzle.

    Third, it is strange that the document should pluck out internet of things, a concept and technology so nascent in India that even its mention in this document makes it conspicuous by its presence. Why is there a need for identification of such detail of a technology still under development, not only in India but in most parts of the world?

    Having said the above, all the right words have been used in the recommendations–non-discriminatory access, non-provision of fast lanes, etc. All or most of these recommendations are great in theory. However, and especially with the carving out for specialised services, the workability of these recommendations, if they are to be accepted and converted into regulations, is suspect. We need to have enough cars (population access to broadband) before we can deride the provision of fast lanes.

    (Abhishek Malhotra is a partner at Bharucha & Partners)