ITV

Tag: WhatsApp

  • TRAI seeks views to regulate Over-The-Top services

    TRAI seeks views to regulate Over-The-Top services

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today asked stakeholders whether it was too early to establish a regulatory framework for over-the-top (OTT) services, since internet penetration is still evolving, and access speeds are generally low and there is limited coverage of high-speed broadband in the country.

     

    At the same time, TRAI sought opinion on whether a beginning should be made now with a regulatory framework that could be adapted to changes in the future in a Consultation Paper on ‘Regulatory Framework for OTT services.’ The regulator wants stakeholders to send in their comments by 25 April and counter-comments by 8 May.

     

    TRAI wants to know if OTT players offering communication services (voice, messaging and video call services) through applications (resident either in the country or outside) should be brought under the licensing regime.

     

    It has sought suggestions on whether the growth of OTT is impacting the traditional revenue stream of telecom service providers and is the increase in data revenues of the TSPs sufficient to compensate for this impact.

     

    The regulator wants stakeholders to state whether the OTT players should pay for use of the TSPs network over and above data charges paid by consumers, the pricing options that can be adopted and could they include prices based on bandwidth consumption.

     

    Do stakeholders feel that imbalances exist in the regulatory environment in the operation of OTT players? What should the framework to address these issues be, and how can the prevailing laws and regulations be applied to OTT players (who operate in the virtual world)? are some of the questions to which, TRAI wants answers.

     

    At the outset, TRAI has noted that TSPs offering fixed and mobile telephony are currently being overwhelmed by online content, known as OTT applications and services. The term OTT refers to applications and services, which are accessible over the internet and ride on operators’ networks offering internet access services e.g. social networks, search engines, amateur video aggregation sites etc. The best known examples of OTT are Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Chat On, Snapchat, Instagram, Kik, Google Talk, Hike, Line, WeChat, Tango, e-commerce sites (Amazon, Flipkart etc.), Ola, Facebook messenger, BlackBerry Messenger, iMessage, online video games and movies (Netflix, Pandora). Today, users can directly access these applications online from any place, at any time, using a variety of internet connected consumers. TSPs also means Network providers, Internet Service Providers, fixed and mobile, broadband providers, data service providers, wireless net providers and access providers.

     

    It said the public internet that started in the 1980s has grown in scope over the last three decades. In its current form, it has the added ability to carry the entire gamut of services that are required to be delivered to a consumer of telecom services. It allows a telecom subscriber to access almost all the services required for information, education and entertainment. It has enabled an individual’s commercial transactions including retail; in that respect, it has altogether redefined the conventional marketplace. Even personalized services, such as a taxi ride can be accessed on a person’s fingertips. This growth has also brought about a fundamental shift in other spheres including telecom and TV. Earlier, networks used to be built around specific applications, say voice, internet or Pay TV. Voice, message and video content have now been reduced to mere bytes.

     

    It is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to know if there is an economic difference in connecting various networks via a land phone, cell phone, or a computer. In fact, young users find it difficult to distinguish among these three networks; from their perspective, all that matters is connectivity. They visualize these not as a layered and interconnected series of discreet networks, but as an organic whole.

     

    The regulator therefore wants to know how the security concerns should be addressed with regard to OTT players providing communication services and what security conditions such as maintaining data records, logs etc. need to be mandated for such OTT players. Furthermore, suggestions are sought on how the OTT players offering app services ensure security, safety and privacy of the consumer.

     

    What forms of discrimination or traffic management practices are reasonable and consistent with a pragmatic approach, the regulator wants to know, and whether the TSPs be mandated to publish various traffic management techniques used for different OTT applications.

     

  • Zee Marathi extends its prime time with ‘Dil Dosti Duniyadaari’

    Zee Marathi extends its prime time with ‘Dil Dosti Duniyadaari’

    MUMBAI: Zee Marathi will add muscle to its programming line-up by extending the prime time slot to 10.30 pm with the launch of Dil Dosti Duniyadaari. This new offering targeted at the young generation of Maharashtra, is about six youngsters who discover friendship, family, love and life together under the same roof in Mumbai. The show is produced by Sanjay Jadhav’s production Dreaming Twenty Four Seven.

     

    This differential offering has been promoted on the channel and through cross channel promotions. The campaign focuses on the ‘fun element’ amongst friends and the off-air and on-air campaign has reiterated this communication thought. The off-air has been largely driven through social media and outdoors. The outdoor campaign has been planned strategically in college areas apart from the Marathi speaking areas. Focused primarily in Mumbai and Pune but with presence in other markets of Maharashtra it includes not just billboards but also heavy use of transit media like bus shelters, bus panels and railway platform boards especially.

     

    Another key innovation in the campaign has been the association with Café Coffee Day across 34 outlets at college zones and popular shopping zones in Maharashtra. The association would see branding at CCD outlets apart from a specially crafted combo meal for six christened as the Dil Dosti DuniyadaariCombo.

     

    The social media campaign has been designed to target the 15-30 year old netizen with interesting viral videos shot specifically for the medium introducing the six protagonists of the show in a comic and entertaining way. Promotions pan across the official Zee Marathi Facebook page and on the Zee Marathi YouTube channel. Promotions on Whatsapp are also on the anvil post launch. The viral videos have received a positive response and are trending.

     

    Zee Marathi business head Deepak Rajadhyaksha said, “The extension of the prime time was a natural progression as we aim to raise the bar in the regional space and look to further consolidate our position in the Maharashtra market. The show at this slot is designed to target the younger generation. The characters in the show are very relatable to the youth as they all portray various facets of this generation like fun-loving, smart, caring, responsible, ambitious youngsters with a streak of craziness in all of them. It portrays how friendship plays a vital role in your transition from being a dependent to an independent person. Where one finds a vital support system in their friends and they become your extended family. Dil Dosti Duniydaari will help us connect better with the youth as they will have an offering to call their own and also help us prepare an audience for the future.”

  • “How India is leading the way in BBC innovation”

    “How India is leading the way in BBC innovation”

    It is always exciting to be in Delhi, to catch up with the latest political news and see a city that changes every time you visit. But for the BBC, India isn’t now only a fascinating story and a place with a large audience that is deep in the heart of the BBC. India is now a thriving hub of media and technology innovation.

     

    Yesterday, I visited the instant messaging app firm Line, in Gurgaon. It has 30m users in India, with just five employees here. The BBC, I’m proud to say, is the first news organisation to distribute its content via Line. I had a fascinating conversation with Line about how it’s very young users react to the news, using the emoticons or emojis which chat apps are famous for. We discussed whether serious news and emoticons go together. But if users want to react to BBC News emotionally that’s fine by me. Images that say “amazing news”, “scary news”, “funny news”, “important news” can only show the power of BBC news’ impact on people.

     

    For those of you who are users of chat apps and social media I hope that your reaction to my speech today about how well the BBC is innovating today in India will be, in the language of the chat app, smiley, smiley, smiley, smiley.

     

    I’m going to speak about some of the BBC’s innovative projects in India and how they stand as a symbol of a revitalised and modernised BBC World Service throughout the world. And I will give you a glimpse of the further reinvention of the BBC that will be seen in India and globally in future years. I believe that the greatest days for the BBC around the world are yet to come, based on the incredible transformation that has happened in recent years.

     

    First, let me detail the basis of the recent strength of the BBC. When I started my role as the director of BBC World Service Group in 2009, we had an estimated weekly audience of 238m globally. 177m of our audiences, the majority, were radio listeners and 82m were TV viewers and only 16.4m were online users. Six years on, our weekly radio audience has declined to 127m, but the TV audience has massively increased to 126m and online users have sharply risen to 46m, almost three-fold. Although our radio audience has declined sharply as Shortwave listening fades, our overall global audience now stands at 265m. Despite losing 50m radio listeners our total audience has gone up by over 10 per cent. We have achieved this through offering distinctive content via new platforms, in response to rapidly changing technologies and audience behaviours.

     

    But while we develop onto new platforms the BBC’s core strengths remain – our accuracy, our impartiality, our independence. And those values mean we continue to be rated the world’s most trusted news brand – that’s something that I hope is never going to change.

     

    In India trust in the BBC is still high and we remain a key player. Our BBC News website is the top international news site in India. The number of its page views is equal to the number of pages viewed by users of CNN, the New York Times and Huffington Post combined. Relied on by millions to understand the world and see how the world sees India, it serves a mainly young population. 73 per cent of users of BBC News website are under 35. We provide Indian audiences with a dedicated international homepage for BBC.Com, which curates the breadth of the BBC for Indian audiences – whether in News or in our world-beating factual genres like BBC Earth. Our BBC News app has an average of 11m page views per month in India.

     

    BBC World News is one of the highest rated international news channels here. It reaches around 32m households in India, which constitute over 8 per cent of BBC World News’s total household distribution globally. And our Hindi services have grown on new platforms – TV, online and mobile.

     

    Amongst its international competitors in India, the BBC is not only the most trusted, but research shows it is perceived to be relevant, high quality, unbiased, distinctive and providing a clear global view.

     

    So I believe the BBC has a growing role but it is one that will differ significantly from the heyday of shortwave radio. To understand how that role is inevitably altering let me give you a quick tour of the global media context, as seen from BBC News.

     

    In recent years the challenges in reaching global audiences have been intensifying. The platform on which BBC World Service historically was strongest – shortwave radio – has come under great pressure as FM radio, TV and mobile phones offer audiences compelling alternatives. In India, BBC Hindi is still available on shortwave and achieves an audience of 5.5 million which the BBC greatly treasures, but that audience has been declining fast as audiences switch to more audible radio and other platforms like TV.

     

    Globally, state-funded and commercial players are investing heavily to increase their reach and influence. In the past decade, we have witnessed a host of new international players emerging, including Qatar’s Al Jazeera and China’s CCTV. While many news organisations, including the BBC, have to operate in a very tight financial environment, countries such as China are spending billions pumping news to audiences around the world.

     

    At a local and regional level, news provision is rapidly increasing. India, for example, has nearly 800 TV channels, more than 240 private FM radio stations and over 94,000 registered periodicals.

     

    The Indian audience has grown, recovering from the last few years of decline. This comes thanks to investments in digital and TV for the Hindi Service, including the launch of the Global India programme on TV, which pulls in 6m weekly viewers. These increases now more than offset the loss of shortwave listeners to the Hindi Service. Our services in India, shifting from old platforms to new ones, are a strong illustration of a shift going on all over the world. In this, as in other areas, India is leading the way.

     

    This success has been mainly the result of our investment in digital and TV, and changing the way we work. However, we need to do a lot more to materialise our ambition, which is to double our international audience to half a billion by 2022.

     

    The massive shift of news consumption towards mobile and social media demands we work in different ways in a modernised operation.  Users consume our journalism everywhere, increasingly in real time on mobile devices and across social media. Working in platform based silos won’t work anymore. 

     

    Our London and Delhi newsrooms are a mix of talents from around the world and its output is enhanced by contribution from highly skilled journalists from our language services. We have individuals who come from the countries we are reporting, speaking the relevant languages fluently. They are bilingual reporters who work with our globally known English News teams, able to operate in English and their own language in various platforms.

     

    We believe this is one of the most ambitious and innovative undertakings in international journalism. It is cost effective but, much more importantly, it means our agenda which already strives to be truly and even-handedly global, is driven further by our multinational, multilingual approach.

     

    We have also been restructuring our overseas bureaux into multimedia, multilingual production units to work in an integrated way across platforms and languages. And the BBC Delhi bureau is also leading the way on this.

     

    In Delhi we have created a new digital first newsroom. It consists of a single multimedia team, which is working across languages for bbchindi.com and bbc.com/news. And that means that the story of India is increasingly being told to the world through our brilliant Indian teams, including from BBC Hindi, alongside the traditional high class ex-pat correspondents. It is vital that the BBC’s global output reflects the world it is reporting on. And I am delighted by the way the BBC India teams are contributing to that.

     

    As a result of our innovative ways of working and our distinctive editorial agenda we have been able to produce some unique output, covering topics that other media find uncomfortable to cover. I am particularly proud of our coverage of gender issues in India. I give you a few examples to illustrate this.

     

    Since the Delhi bus rape in December 2012, we have consciously kept gender issues high on our agenda. The incident triggered an ambitious, highly popular season of programming called ‘100 Women’, in October last year and this year. The aim was to turn the spotlight on women’s lives around the world and feature more women’s voices and women’s stories on the BBC’s global news channels.

     

    We have published moving pieces by our bilingual reporters in India, including a piece by Rupa Jha who highlighted the stigma and taboo around the issue of menstruation in the country. She reported on how women are considered impure and even cursed during menstruation and how at least one in five girls drop out of school during their periods due to lack of access to sanitary products.

     

    In another piece, our Delhi-based bilingual reporter, Divya Arya, looked at how lack of toilets in rural India is endangering the safety of women who have to walk long distances to go to open-air toilets in the fields. She travelled to a village less than 50 miles from Delhi to speak to women who have to wait for the dark and move in groups to keep safe when going to toilet.

     

    And our teams do original reporting and stage discussion on other important aspects of India.

     

    Last week the BBC broadcast an extended debate from the India International Centre here in Delhi on India’s role in World War One. In conjunction with our partners the British Council we brought the often neglected enormous sacrifice of Indians in WW1 to a global audience. The pride of the descendants of those Indian soldiers was wonderful to hear.

     

    And the BBC’s unrivalled network of correspondents around the world can keep an increasingly global India in touch with how the world sees it. For instance when PM Modi was in New York in September our reporter based there was able to tell the world of the powerful reaction to the PM, broadcasting in English, Hindi and Urdu, for BBC on TV, radio and online. (We keep our reporters pretty busy these days).

     

     

    All of our strongest stories about India are produced in Hindi and English. Local reporters who tell the stories from their country to the whole world are now an essential part of the BBC’s international newsgathering approach. They provide a depth and subtlety of understanding that complements the indispensable insights of the BBC’s “ex-pat” foreign correspondents. This shift to bilingual journalism is one of the most important changes in the BBC’s face to the world in recent years. It is an historic and irreversible shift.

     

    We are also innovating in our use of social media. BBC Hindi is operating as ‘Social First’, meaning social platforms are as important as publishing on its own homepage. BBC Hindi Facebook page has a fan base of 2.7 million and is growing faster than most of its competitors. BBC Hindi breaks news on Twitter and other social platforms first and produces infographics exclusively for social media.

     

    New Products

     

    Developing new digital products for mobile apps and web is a key priority for us. More than half of BBC World Service markets are “mobile first”, which means over 50 per cent of users’ first point of access to the internet is through their mobile phones. More than 70 per cent of BBC Hindi’s Unique Visitors online access our content through mobile devices. 

     

    Given the explosion in different types of mobile devices, all BBC World Service websites have been converted to responsive design, which adapts a site according to the device it’s being viewed on. BBC Hindi’s responsive mobile browser site was launched in March 2013 and its desktop went responsive in September this year. This has contributed to a rapid and steady growth of the Hindi website’s traffic. The number of Hindi’s monthly unique visitors across all platforms has jumped from 1.3m in April 2013 to 4.5m in October 2014 – remarkable tripling of audience in 18 months.

     

    In editorial terms, we’ve adapted our storytelling approach. The Hindi service has been one of the first services to pilot a “mobile first” strategy this year, making the stories shorter and punctuated with more pictures and graphics.  There was a 20 per cent uplift in mobile traffic after the first month of piloting these new editorial techniques.

     

    For the coverage of the Indian general elections earlier this year, we used two new platforms, WhatsApp and WeChat, to reach Indian voters and the Indian diaspora globally. We used these chat apps, which are widely used in India, to create a new editorial service in English and Hindi.

     

    This was the first time any international news organisation had used these platforms in this way. We had thousands of subscribers across both platforms and it meant we were able to deliver trusted news content, which was a big issue for many Indian voters with regards to domestic news providers, straight onto people’s mobile phones.

     

    Last month we launched a new ‘lifeline’ Ebola service for people in West Africa on Whatsapp, based on that innovation in India. This was the first time the BBC has used a chat app specifically for health information content.

     

    Recently BBC Hindi also made its content available on smartphone instant messaging platform Line, which is one the world’s top five chat apps. The launch of the BBC Hindi LINE app follows the recent launch on LINE of an English language BBC News account which has already acquired 300000 subscribers globally and over 100000 in India.

     

    Last year, we launched a number of innovative programmes global programmes, based on social media. For instance, we set up a new social media unit, BBC Trending, to spot and investigate social media trends around the world. The team produces a weekly World Service radio programme, a blog and a unique video product which is built to be shared.  Trending’s content is enhanced by BBC Monitoring and language services’ contribution which gives it a truly global flavour. Due to BBC Trending success, we have been expanding it to other languages including Arabic and Mundo and we hope also to launch in Hindi.

     

    I would like to give you some examples of how BBC Trending works and goes behind the stories.

     

    BBC Trending picked up the growing tension over the ‘’kiss of love’’ protest in Kerala at its very early stages and contextualised the social confrontation in India between young people and the conservative cadres of religious groups for a global audience.

     

    Last week, BBC Trending made a video on the “We are South of India’’ song, which became a YouTube hit and was made by a comedy group from the south of the country to educate northern people about the diversity of their culture down south. This is an example of the conversation India is having with itself and shared with the wider world through BBC Trending.

     

    When the newly elected Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched a campaign to encourage Indians to clean up the country, there was a huge fanfare. But despite the huge coverage on the day, no other media outlets checked if it actually worked on social media.  BBC Trending looked at the lack of spread of the trend forensically.

     

    And those BBC Trending stories get reported back to India in both English and Hindi.

     

    Partnership

     

    We see editorial partnerships as a key way to reach a wider audience, enhance our content and help raise media standards around the world.

     

    We have built a network of FM partner stations around the world.  Here in India – we have a partnership with ETV which broadcasts the BBC Hindi TV programme, Global India, on its channels across the Hindi-speaking states. We have received encouraging indications of the substantial audiences already being achieved by Global India. I think this reflects a hunger among Indian audiences for content that relates India and the world, content that is largely missing from local providers who tend to be ruthlessly focussed on an India-only view of the world. The BBC can play a vital role in opening the eyes of audiences to the world.

     

    However, although partners are important to the BBC on TV and in digital, there is one area where the BBC is not able to rebroadcast its news content in India – on FM radio.  Since the election of the new government the former Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, said this on deregulation of news on FM radio:

     

    “About (broadcasting) news on FM radio, it is an issue close to my heart. Sometimes I am unable to understand the government logic. When 24×7 news channels have the freedom to show news the way they want to…, what have radio channels done that they can’t air news? “

     

    “Why only restrict radio channels to AIR (All India Radio) bulletins (feed)? There can be three-four more options. We are looking at this issue very positively and we will take a decision soon.”

     

    That was an encouraging statement and we hope the new minister will take this idea forward.

     

    India is a highly modern and open society in so many ways. Its economically liberal IT sector, with an open internet at its core, is a huge advantage to the growth of India. But India’s out-dated approach to the control of news on FM radio betrays an unconfident approach. The BBC hopes that indications of reform from the Minister of Information are followed through with real action.

     

    The components of a dramatically modernised BBC World Service are clear: a commitment to distinctive journalism that reports stories that others won’t, with utter fairness; delivering that journalism on any platform that audiences use; a global editorial ethos based on a multilingual and diverse global workforce; and the systematic use of social media to engage with audiences, to gather their news and anticipate their information needs.

     

    But how will the BBC evolve further? It will need to continue to change as fast, even faster. I believe that if it does so, with the right support from the wider BBC, the best days of the World Service are yet to come. The remarkable advantage of committed public funding, a revitalised ethos of global journalism, the talents of the global BBC team and a commitment to technological innovation give the BBC inestimable advantages.

     

    Here are some clues for what we will do in future in India and around the world:

     

    The rapid proliferation of digital devices, the growth of digital video viewing and the declining cost of bandwidth create huge new opportunities for the BBC – an organisation with the strongest video news in the world. We are no longer constrained  by the time limits of TV news bulletins. BBC teams are experimenting with a variety of technologies that will produce continuous video news streams for digital devices on the subjects and places that most interest the world.

     

    Do you want news about the South Asia region? Do you want Asian business news? Do you want to know about new global developments in health technology? Do you want to know about Indian success stories in the UK and around the world? Each of those subjects will be able to be delivered as a video stream to your specification. We call this “channel in a box” – in other words a channel, or a visit stream, made in a black electronic box not a studio.

     

    And our multilingual teams are prototyping new techniques to produce these video streams in multiple languages. I expect all the services I mentioned should be able to be delivered in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali and possibly other South Asian languages.  We will be organising our teams in multilingual subject-based global teams that make full use of our journalistic skills from across the world. This will shortly create the most innovative global content production of any news organisation in the world.

     

    In recent months the BBC World Service has started to add languages rather than cutting them, as happened over previous decades. We launched an emergency service in Thai after the military coup in Bangkok. And just this week we started a temporary crisis offer, funded through BBC Media Action, in Liberian English to help tackle the Ebola crisis.

     

    But I believe that with new technology and low cost translation methods the BBC could be producing content in 50 languages in five years’ time, with video streams/channels in about half those languages. That will help in achieving the BBC’s aim of a 500m global audience. More importantly, it would mean that in a world that has too much inaccurate, distorted and sensationalist news there will be a truthful news source available to a high proportion of the global population.

     

    As you may know, I will shortly be leaving the BBC. But I believe that the robust health of the BBC around the world, along with the ideas I have mentioned and the innovation that is already in train, provide a firm platform for continued success. All that is needed is for the BBC, the politicians who ultimately decide about the World Service and the British public who now pay for it, to realise that it is within their grasp to create the greatest days of the BBC World Service.

     

    If the BBC seizes that opportunity it will be following the example of many of the innovations by the BBC’s teams in India. In this, as in many other areas, India is helping to lead the way to help create the Future of the BBC World Service.

     

    (These are purely personal views of BBC World Service Group director Peter Horrocks and indiantelevision.com does not subscribe to these views.)

    (Peter Horrocks was speaking at the Observer Research Foundation)

  • WhatsApp number launched for overseas listeners of Urdu service of All India Radio

    WhatsApp number launched for overseas listeners of Urdu service of All India Radio

    NEW DELHI: To increase its reach and become interactive, All India Radio Urdu service has launched its WhatsApp services so that listeners can interact with their messages.

     

    This will allow overseas listeners to send in their song request for “Suraj Ke Sath Sath” and “Shaam Suhaani” on 8130913554. Each show is of two hours and is aired from 8 to 10 am and from 6 to 8 pm respectively. These two shows were introduced on 15 August this year.

     

    An AIR official said, “Both the programmes are Prime Time Music Request Shows and listeners’ request are being taken through SMS and WhatsApp. After getting an overwhelming response to our programmes, we were prompted to launch a WhatsApp number which brings compatibility and makes it easy to send request from anywhere in the world.”

     

    Overseas listeners can also tune into Urdu service through internet and DTH services besides MWs and SWs. For availing radio services through net, one can log into Allindiaradio.gov.in

     

    This is a one-of-its-kind approach by the oldest broadcaster of the country, wherein it is trying to attract the tech savvy audience of present generation.

     

    All India Urdu Service caters to neighbouring countries. Listeners can also log on to the Facebook page ‘AkashvaniPrasarBharati’ and the twitter handle @AkashvaniAIR for latest updates about the shows.

  • TRAI paper on broadband next month

    TRAI paper on broadband next month

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will come out with a comprehensive consultation paper on broadband next month. It will invite views of public on issues related to roll out of broadband in the country.

     

    Inaugurating the “Eighth Mobile India Summit: Broadband Highway-Driving India’s Growth” organised by Assocham, TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar said, “The authority has been working on broadband issues, and hopefully, we will come out with a paper on broadband, may be by the end of next month.” He also admitted that India’s progress in terms of broadband has been very limited and disappointing.

     

    “Of 1.8 lakh kilometres (kms) cable that has been ordered 15,000 has been delivered which is just about eight per cent, of six lakh kms for ducting actual achievement is about 2,000 kms which is about 0.3 per cent, the optical fibre cable pulled is about 250 kms which is less than 0.05 per cent of the target and all this has been achieved in past two years,” he added.

     

    He further stressed the need for targeted approach to achieve broadband policy objectives. He also focused on the scope to use available private infrastructure in conjunction with already existing public infrastructure

     

    TRAI is also planning to issue a consultation paper soon to discuss regulatory framework around Over-the-top (OTT) players like WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, WeChat etc.

     

    The OTT players facilitate free calls and messaging services, making it affordable for consumers to use them. Telecom subscribers are required to pay only internet charges to their operators for using OTT services.

     

    The authority had recently organised a seminar on ‘Regulatory Framework for OTT Services’ with the aim to provide a platform for exchanging views on key issues related to OTT and also rejected the proposal put forward by telcos to charge popular apps.

  • TRAI rejects telcos’ proposal to charge popular apps

    TRAI rejects telcos’ proposal to charge popular apps

    MUMBAI: In a victory for the users of WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and other apps, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided against a proposal of carriers to impose extra fees on these popular services.

     

    The cellular service providers placed a proposal last month for these apps to share a part of their revenue with them or the government which allow users to route calls and messages via the internet.

     

    As reported by the Economic Times, TRAI has now rejected the idea and also cancelled plans to hold a consultation on the matter. According to the report, TRAI feels that revenue losses can be offset by growth in the usage of data services and that there is no need to intervene at this time. 

     

    The proposal was given on the basis that the mobile service providers were suffering a loss of revenue due to declining use of cellular voice and SMS services.

     

    With the rise over the-top players (OTTPs), many subscribers use these apps rather than their telecom operator’s normal voice call and SMS services, affecting the carrier’s revenue. Hence telcos, having invested billions of dollars in creating their network, want OTTPs to be regulated so that both parties operate on a level playing field.

     

    Operators want the OTTPs—which use their telecom networks— to pay the same fees that they pay to the government, which if implemented will force the app makers to charge for their services, currently available for free.

     

    The proposal by the telecom companies sparked widespread criticism from the consumers, raising objection to the very idea of imposing fees on specific apps, pointing out that the carriers already charge for internet connectivity.

     

    According to OTT players, seeking payment and the move to regulate them is against the concept of free internet or ‘net neutrality’.

     

    TRAI recently held a seminar titled ‘Regulatory Framework for OTT Services’ bringing several OTT players face-to-face with operators as a precursor to regulating the app space in India. This would have been the first step in a consultation process, which has now reportedly been called off.

  • ‘Happy New Year’ trailer to be on Whatsapp

    ‘Happy New Year’ trailer to be on Whatsapp

    MUMBAI: In keeping with the tradition of innovatively marketing its films, Red Chillies Entertainments yet again comes out with a unique way to promote its movie ‘Happy New Year.’

     

    For the first time an Indian film will send its trailer via WhatsApp to the users of the application. Simply by giving a missed call or dropping in a WhatsApp message at +91 9819020202, the audiences will get the trailer on their mobiles and tablets. Also, the restriction by WhatsApp on a broadcast message has specially been removed for this campaign. 

     

    Talking on the first-of-its-kind trailer release, Red Chillies Entertainment CEO Venky Mysore said, “As a company there is a special focus on constantly improving fan experience through innovation. Whether it was the first look of the movie at the beginning of the year through one of the biggest Twitter innovations with fans receiving customised posters from their favourite artists, which received close to a billion impressions as a campaign, or the new innovations with WhatsApp and Twitter for the upcoming movie – ‘Happy New Year’, our endeavour is to delight fans.”

     

    “With over 50 million active users on WhatsApp in India who every day share millions of videos and images with individual friends and groups it was an obvious choice to use WhatsApp as a platform. The only challenge was the restriction by WhatsApp where a broadcast message cannot be sent to more than 250 friends/WhatsApp users but WhatsApp has specially removed this restriction for this campaign,” Mysore added.

     

    Directed by Farah Khan, the eagerly-awaited ‘Happy New Year’ brings back Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan together, after their last blockbuster `Chennai Express.’ The movie also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and Boman Irani and has been shot in Dubai. The trailer is scheduled to release on 14 August 2014, on the eve of Independence Day.

     

    The film is produced by Red Chillies Entertainments and distributed by Yash Raj Films worldwide. The film will release this Diwali in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages across the globe.

  • Your WhatsApp could cost you, soon

    Your WhatsApp could cost you, soon

    MUMBAI: Telecom operators are worried with the increasing number of over the top (OTT) services that are using their bandwidth to provide share audio, video and text. Therefore, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) decided to pacify everyone with a seminar to discuss the issue.

     

    The telecom industry claims that it is suffering huge losses due to platforms such as Skype, Whatsapp and Viber that provide similar services at no cost but the internet service charge. PTI reports Cellular Operators Association of India director general TV Ramachandran stating during the seminar, “We want some kind of regulatory help to get a level-playing field. There are so many regulations binding on us but the same don’t exist for OTT players. We can do a lot more if level-playing field is given to us.”

     

    According to data by PricewaterhouseCoopers managing consultant Neeraj Kataria, Skype usage is costing the telecom industry around $36 billion a year globally.

     

    On the other hand, when WhatsApp picked up speed in the country, several other such services such as Hike, Line, WeChat, Snapchat etc also emerged to eat a share of the pie.

     

    Ramachandran also shared his concern that OTT services can switch calls over the web outside India but telecom ops have to pay interconnect charges.

     

    Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) president CS Rao said that OTT service providers have no rule regarding quality of service and consumer commitment. “If 20 per cent of our customers start using OTT service then burden on network will increase $55 per subscriber,’ he added.

     

    A report in Business Today states that telcos currently are losing around Rs 5000 crore per year due to these OTT services that will cross Rs 16,400 crore in next two years.

     

    On the other hand, Internet and Mobile Association of India president Subho Roy stated that TRAI should keep out of it since it is a business to business issue. But the TRAI secretary Sudhir Gupta is reported to have said that the purpose of the seminar is not to see if OTT services are cutting into telecom operators’ revenue but whether there is a need for regulating such service or not.

     

    Amid all this, Facebook India has also joined the Cellular Operators Association of India to ‘focus on mobile technology, access and its continued desire to work in collaboration with the industry to increase connectivity.’

     

     

  • Facebook adds LiveRail to its kitty

    Facebook adds LiveRail to its kitty

    MUMBAI: The news of Facebook acquiring video advertising company, LiveRail didn’t really come as a surprise.

     

    It was in March when Facebook first began offering 15-second video ads for a limited number of companies on its website. The company has moved cautiously in introducing video ads on its social network to prevent a backlash from users who might find the ads annoying.

     

    This acquisition is the social media company’s latest step to make video ads a bigger part of its business.

     

    According to Reuters, Facebook has not disclosed the price for the San Francisco-based company, which was founded in 2007 and has offices in several countries.

     

    It can be noted that LiveRail’s technology automatically pairs video ads with the videos that appear on many websites, such as Major League Baseball, ABC and A&E Networks website.

     

    The report on Reuters also states that video ads command higher prices than other forms of online advertising such as banner ads. Facebook and other internet rivals like Google are increasingly trying to grab a slice of lucrative TV-marketing budgets as they try to sustain rapid growth.

     

    For records, it was early last year that Facebook bought Whatsapp for US$19.5 billon.

     

    It will be interesting to see how Facebook ropes in brands to scale its video advertising inventory in the coming days.

  • Indian brands are still discovering the true power of digital video

    Indian brands are still discovering the true power of digital video

    MUMBAI: While social media is an important ingredient of the digital mix of most Indian brands today, many aspects like video are nowhere close to realising their fullest potential.

    Indiantelevision.com speaks to Famebox Network director Dhruvank Vaidya about this, the increasing popularity of original web content, and the latest reality show ‘Beauty and the Blogger’ that the company is working on.

    How far has video on social media evolved?

    It started with professional content (film and TV) being edited and uploaded on YouTube.  Lately, we are seeing high quality ‘made for the web’ content that is garnering a lot of viewership. More recently, Famebox is breaking new ground with its web reality shows. Thus, innovations in programming formats are drawing newer audiences and advertisers to this medium.

    What are the key elements in making videos shareable on social media?

    The most important is element of surprise.  If you see something unexpected in the video, you are more likely to share it.  Of course, what gets shared on Facebook is very different from what users on WhatsApp choose to share.

    In your opinion, how are Indian brands using video in their digital media mix?

    Indian brands are still discovering the true power of digital video. Most have been using their existing TVCs and uploading them.  Some create a video series (which again looks like a set of TV commercials) and upload it on their YouTube channel but that’s it.  What digital needs is engaging content and constant interactions with your target group. So, it is a lot more than just making videos and uploading them on your YouTube channel.  Having said this, some brands, especially in the fashion category, are using the medium very well.

    Which are the brand categories that are betting high on videos on social media?

    The categories which will benefit the most from digital videos are the ones whose target audience is not very easily available on TV.  Youth is a great example.  They are always on the web, checking social media, watching videos etc.  And brands need to create highly entertaining content to engage with them.  Fashion, lifestyle, consumer goods, phones/ telecom/ technology etc. are all doing a lot on this medium.

    Are broadcasters (channels) collaborating with your network?

    The biggest testimonial to the value that broadcasters see in networks like ours is the recent acquisition of Maker Studios by Disney for US$ 500 million.  Maker, as you know, is a digital video driven multi-channel network.

    ‘Virality’ is a term associated with videos on social media. What according to you makes a video go viral?

    While there are several elements which contribute to making a video popular – content type, editing, how well it is distributed, how many likes/ comments/ shares it gets etc. there is no way to tell which of these will make the video go viral.

    Which are the most popular video topics on web these days?

    While comedy has been getting a lot of press, there is a lot of user-generated content on cooking, fashion, lifestyle, education etc.  Famebox is a pioneer in web reality shows and we have seen a lot of viewership for our show, WebChef.

    Please tell us more about your latest web show ‘Beauty and the Blogger’.

    Fashion and beauty is a highly engaging category and has made a major impact on social media. ‘Beauty and the Blogger’ is built to leverage the high interactivity provided by social media and the excitement provided by a reality show.  The models bring in the glamour while the bloggers provide social media buzz.  This format truly leverages the power of the web and its ability to entertain as well as engage its audiences in real time.

    The reality show will feature eight shortlisted fashion models and the country’s top bloggers who team up for a unique multi-round contest. The show will be initiated through a three-day ground event at an exclusive resort. While the teams will compete against each other, they will also be buzzing on social media in real time.  This is a first for Indian audiences where the on-ground action of a reality show is brought live to audiences via social media.  The event will then be uploaded on the FameBox fashion channel on YouTube and will be available to viewers at large to watch. The winners will be chosen basis their performance in the on-ground event and the social media buzz and influence that they generate.