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<ul><li>Telecom sector’s aggregate gross revenues (AGR) are expected to grow at 11-12% CAGR over FY23-26.</li><li>Like in Q1, AGR growth in the next three years will be driven by data monetization and premiumisation.</li><li>During the same period, <keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword> is expected to gain AGR market share due to its ‘sticky and premium’ subscribers. </li></ul>After suffering through years of disruptions and consolidations, the telecom sector is showing good signs of growth in aggregate gross revenues (AGR) driven by ‘premiumisation’ – higher 4G conversions and more post-paid subscriptions. The telecom sector’s AGR is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) at 12% between FY23-FY26. And, Bharti Airtel is expected to add more market share, say analysts. “Bharti’s AGR market share is likely to jump 125 basis points in the same period (FY23-FY26) to 37.5%, and RJio’s by 110 basis points to 42.5%,” said a research report by ICICI Securities. The signs are already visible from Q1FY24 performance of Airtel, as its AGR market share went up by 80 basis points. “Bharti's strong market share gains in B and C circles indicates traction on its rural expansion strategy,” said Jefferies as it expects sector revenues to grow at 11% CAGR over FY23-26 with market share gains for Bharti/Jio. Vodafone Idea’s market share has already declined to an all-time low in Q1, and market share losses could accelerate further, says Jefferies as 5G becomes mainstream. The company has been unable to start rolling out 5G due to its heavy debt, unlike its peers who have aggressively rolling it out. The era of tariff hikes The industry AGR recorded an 8% growth in Q1 even as the sector has not seen any tariff hikes in the last 12 months. This was driven by subscriber additions, data monetisation and premiumisation – conversion from 2G to 4G and from prepaid to postpaid. Going ahead, this trend will only add to AGR as well as ARPU growth. The average revenue per user (ARPU) is also expected to grow at a healthy pace of 10% over the next three years, estimates ICICI Securities. Moreover, there are tariff hikes to come. “We believe India wireless business tariff hikes are likely to be more frequent, going forward, given the consolidated industry structure and higher ARPU requirement to justify significant capex for 5G rollout,” said a report by J M Financial. In the last three years, the sector took two tariff hikes in December 2019 by around 25%, and another in December 2021 by around 15%. The companies were affected by the first tariff hike due to SIM consolidation, but the second hike smoothly flew into the AGR. ICICI Securities too expects another tariff hike in FY25 which is expected to be at around 10%. But this is not the only factor that can contribute to ARPU growth. Over 6% CAGR growth is expected to come from premiumisation and data monetisation. “Nonetheless, industry AGR performance in the past few quarters has shown organic growth (defined as AGR growth without tariff hike) can potentially sustain at much higher levels if operators execute better data monetisation,” ICICI Securities said. And when tariff hikes happen, it will only add to market share gains to Airtel. “Bharti is the biggest beneficiary of higher tariffs given the sticky and premium quality of its subscribers, ensuring that tariff hikes flow through to ARPU,” says J M Financial. In the near future, as 5G becomes mainstream, Airtel and Jio have more to gain, as 5G users are expected to consume more data — driving the sector towards more premiumisation. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div>

Airtel set to narrow the gap with Jio as telecom users go premium

<ul><li>The Indian <keyword id="6354776" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="telecom" source="Orion">telecom</keyword> sector runs the risk of turning into a duopoly of <keyword id="6354504" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reliance-jio" source="Orion">Reliance Jio</keyword> and <keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword>. </li><li>The lack of tariff hikes and 5G monetisation being pushed back would hurt <keyword id="1553175" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="vodafone-idea" source="Orion">Vodafone Idea</keyword>’s survival the most, according to analysts. </li><li>At the same time, <keyword id="2003276" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="jio" source="Orion">Jio</keyword> and Airtel are aggressively pursuing the hunt for premium subscribers, extending the gap between themselves and Vodafone Idea even more.</li></ul>The Indian telecom sector could turn into a two-player game with both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel stepping up the gas to attract premium subscribers with new postpaid offerings and unlimited 5G data, while the struggling Vodafone Idea is yet to kick off its 5G services despite bagging spectrum last year. Analysts have underlined multiple times that tariff hikes by Indian telecom companies are imminent, however, that has yet to come to fruition. This is despite Bharti Airtel stating that there is a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtel-reports-89-yoy-increase-in-q2-net-profit-to-2145-crore/articleshow/95207348.cms"> “need for tariff correction”</a> and Vodafone Idea stressing that a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vi-betting-on-tariff-hike-as-it-lost-over-10-million-every-day-in-q1-fy23/articleshow/93348828.cms"> tariff hike is necessary</a> before the end of 2022. Earlier, global brokerage Jefferies noted that it expects Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio to hike tariffs by 10% each in Q4 of FY23, FY24 and FY25. To be clear, Airtel has increased the price of its base plan from ₹99 to ₹155 across all the telecom circles in India – but that is the extent of price hikes so far. “A delayed tariff hike while negative for the sector, would hurt Vi’s survival hopes the most, and could effectively lead to a duopoly, likely resulting in accelerated market share gains for Bharti and Reliance Jio,” said a report by Kotak Institutional Equities. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Vodafone Idea: Caught between a rock and a hard place" comment="subhead" text="Vodafone Idea: Caught between a rock and a hard place">Vodafone Idea: Caught between a rock and a hard place</cmsannotation> Jio is on the offensive on multiple fronts to attract premium subscribers – including 5G, postpaid segment, and now pay TV via its ₹198 broadband plan. Airtel, too, has aggressively expanded its 5G presence and is now matching Jio in terms of data allowance. With tariff hikes and 5G monetization on the back burner, Vodafone Idea is caught between a rock and a hard place. With a subscriber loss of over 5.3 million between October and December 2022, 5G launch still not being on the horizon, and the lack of a fundraise so far, would hurt Vodafone Idea’s survival the most. “Vodafone Idea (Vi) stares at a cash shortfall of ₹5,500 crore over the next 12 months and a delay in tariff hike/fund-raise; this could lead to Vi shutting shop and accelerated market share gains for Reliance Jio and Bharti,” said the Kotak report. If Vodafone Idea unilaterally increases tariffs, it risks accelerating subscriber loss. If it doesn’t, its ARPUs remain suppressed even as it continues to lose a large number of subscribers every month. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The hunt for premium subscribers" comment="subhead" text="The hunt for premium subscribers">The hunt for premium subscribers</cmsannotation> Jio and Airtel are both on the hunt for premium subscribers – absent any tariff hikes, luring premium subscribers is the only other way to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU), a critical metric in measuring a telecom company’s performance. These premium subscribers can be of two types – those with a postpaid account, and those who consume a lot of data. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jio’s postpaid push" comment="subhead" text="Jio’s postpaid push">Jio’s postpaid push</cmsannotation> In the first case, Jio’s latest postpaid offerings give users 75-100GB of high speed 4G data, with plans starting at ₹399 per month, with ₹99 additional charge per user. “The new family postpaid plans effectively cap the customer outgo at ₹205-235 per month and provide an arbitrage for higher-end prepaid subscribers to move to family postpaid [plans] to reduce their outgo per connection,” said a report by Kotak Institutional Equities. For context, Jio’s ARPU as of the December 2022 quarter is ₹178.2. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel matches Jio with unlimited 5G data" comment="subhead" text="Airtel matches Jio with unlimited 5G data">Airtel matches Jio with unlimited 5G data</cmsannotation> The other option is attracting users who consume a lot of data. After limiting its 5G users to existing allowances as per 4G plans, Airtel is now offering unlimited 5G data just like Jio. While both Airtel and Jio are not charging anything extra for 5G services yet, unlimited data is a ploy to get users hooked onto 5G speeds which have touched as much as 1.5Gbps in some cases. “We believe there is greater uncertainty on tariff hikes in the near term given that large capacity creation with 5G will shift focus on boosting utilization,” said a Jefferies report. Both Airtel and Jio are in a race to expand their 5G coverage – after trailing Jio for several weeks, Airtel now has 5G in over 500 cities, while <keyword id="6668253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jio-5g" source="Orion">Jio 5G</keyword> is available in 406 cities. In sharp contrast, Vodafone Idea is yet to launch its 5G services, and since Airtel and Jio went live with 5G services in October, the telco has lost over 5.3 million subscribers. According to the analysts at Kotak, multiple state elections and the 2024 general elections could force telcos to push back tariff hikes, and also give them enough time to build out their 5G coverage across the country. However, this makes matters worse for Vodafone Idea which has the lowest ARPU of the three telcos at just ₹135. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jio’s broadband backup plan ‘disruptive’" comment="subhead" text="Jio’s broadband backup plan ‘disruptive’">Jio’s broadband backup plan ‘disruptive’</cmsannotation> Apart from its new postpaid plans and unlimited 5G data, Jio has also announced an affordable new fibre broadband plan priced at ₹198 per month, branding it as a “broadband backup plan”. However, the analysts at ICICI Securities think it could actually disrupt cable TV providers, as well as Airtel’s direct-to-home (DTH) business. “We believe the new plan is targeted at cable user who has seen significant rise in cable bills and drop in the number of channels. The new plan by Reliance Jio will offer more content (OTT + live TV) and fixed broadband data at largely pay TV prices,” said a report by ICICI Securities, adding that IPL 2023, which will be streamed for free via the JioCinema app will help boost the adoption of Jio’s ₹198 broadband plan. According to the analysts at JP Morgan, this new plan will help the company expand the total addressable market of fixed broadband market, which currently stands at just 30 million. For comparison, the cable/DTH market has 110-130 million customers, according to the ICICI Securities report. “Jio is playing offence as it pivots to a focus on premium subscribers. We expect this disruptive innovation at the bottom of the market to put pressure on Bharti,” the JP Morgan report said. For now, Vodafone Idea will have to figure out a way to stem its subscriber loss and prevent further erosion of its market share. Launch of 5G services and aggressively expanding its coverage in key circles should help the telco. It remains to be seen if it comes to fruition or not, though. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/top-chatgpt-4-plugins-from-math-physics-and-language-tutor-to-vacation-planner/articleshow/99036667.cms">Top ChatGPT 4 plugins: From math, physics and language tutor to vacation planner</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbis-mpc-could-pause-rate-hikes-in-april-to-gauge-the-impact-of-hikes-so-far-sbi-research/articleshow/99030220.cms">RBI’s MPC could pause rate hikes in April to gauge the impact of hikes so far: SBI Research</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/layoffs-coming-to-the-indian-it-sector-analysts-say-accentures-jobs-cuts-offers-a-blueprint/articleshow/98970175.cms">Layoffs coming to the Indian IT sector? Analysts say Accenture’s jobs cuts offers a ‘blueprint’</a>

Increased competition, delayed tariff hikes could effectively lead to a Jio-Airtel duopoly

<ul><li><keyword id="7946308" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="5g-spectrum-auctions" source="Orion">5G spectrum auctions</keyword> are almost here after years of delay.</li><li>With the AGR dues case behind them, telcos and the government are coordinating to address each other’s needs.</li><li>Yet, <keyword id="6450594" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="5g-spectrum" source="Orion">5G spectrum</keyword> auctions may not offer the bumper harvest that 4G did.</li><li>We decode all the reasons that telcos have to go slow with bidding for <keyword id="764355" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="5g" source="Orion">5G</keyword> spectrum.</li></ul>The government has been pinning its hopes on a bumper earnings from 5G spectrum sale to bolster its revenues, but experts suggest it should temper its expectations and not expect a repeat of 4G spectrum auctions. 5G spectrum auctions are scheduled to begin on July 26, 2022. All the three leading telcos – <keyword id="6354504" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-jio" source="Orion">Reliance Jio</keyword>, <keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword> and <keyword id="1553175" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vodafone-idea" source="Orion">Vodafone Idea</keyword> – have tested their networks and demonstrated that they are 5G ready. But the government has been pushing back the auctions – to settle the ongoing issue of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-opts-for-agr-dues-moratorium-becomes-the-second-telco-to-do-so/articleshow/87254202.cms">AGR dues</a>. India’s telecom ministry and regulator sprung into action to speed up the auction process. But, its first roadblock came in after the telcos petitioned the government for a 90% cut in base spectrum prices. However, the government cut them only by 40%. The government is banking on spectrum auctions to fill its coffers, at a time when fiscal deficit in April and May has shot up to 12% of the budgeted estimate, as opposed to 8% in the same period last year. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="92521472" title="Akash Ambani to head Reliance Jio - that’s just phase I of Mukesh Ambani’s succession plan" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The LIC IPO fizzled out, rising inflation and the Rupee hitting record lows in the last week resulting in a decline of billions of dollars in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbis-efforts-to-save-rupee-has-made-a-big-dent-in-its-forex-reserves/articleshow/92654557.cms">forex reserves</a> – there are several reasons for the government to extract as much as it can from the telcos. However, given the way 5G spectrum usage policies are shaping up, a bumper harvest like it was the case with 4G seems to be difficult. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Why the govt should not expect a bumper harvest from 5G spectrum auctions" comment="subhead" text="Why the govt should not expect a bumper harvest from 5G spectrum auctions">Why the govt should not expect a bumper harvest from 5G spectrum auctions</cmsannotation> The last major spectrum auction to take place was that of 4G spectrum in 2021 – this was after the telecom industry went through years of distress and consolidation after Jio’s entry in 2016. The government scooped up ₹77,800 crore from the auctions despite only a third of the spectrum being acquired by telcos. Telcos bid for the spectrum strategically, too – with the bulk of the purchases made in the mid-range, which is capable of delivering speeds ranging from 100-900 Mbps. “Don’t expect a bidding war. More than adequate spectrum is available for the three operators,” stated a report by JP Morgan. That and getting less than the desired price cut leaves telcos with little motivation or the need to bid aggressively for 5G spectrum. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="92356710" title="INTERVIEW: The big picture on 5G, Big Tech-telco war with COAI’s Dr SP Kochhar" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Private 5G networks could also play spoilsport" comment="subhead" text="Private 5G networks could also play spoilsport">Private 5G networks could also play spoilsport</cmsannotation> The government allowing private 5G networks – that is, companies like TCS, for instance, can run their own private networks by bidding for the respective category – has also raised the hackles of telcos. COAI, the industry body representing telcos, has asked the government to impose ‘tough conditions’ for allowing private companies to run their own 5G networks. COAI’s director general Dr SP Kochhar <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/interview-the-big-picture-on-5g-big-tech-telco-war-with-coais-dr-sp-kochhar/articleshow/92356710.cms">told</a> Business Insider India that enterprises will likely contribute to 70% of 5G revenue, and if telcos can’t serve Big Tech, then they will have to draw up new business plans. “Relatively high prices and the risk of dilution to telcos’ upside, with DoT approving direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises for deploying private networks, are negatives,” stated a report by IIFL Securities. Essentially, the clients which telcos are trying to bag as 5G consumers, will turn into competitive bidders. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Spectrum sharing – sweetener for telcos, sour for the govt" comment="subhead" text="Spectrum sharing – sweetener for telcos, sour for the govt">Spectrum sharing – sweetener for telcos, sour for the govt</cmsannotation> Another reason why 5G spectrum auction could fizzle out is spectrum sharing – according to a report, TRAI is apparently considering allowing telcos to share airwaves. This will solve two problems – first, telcos can monetize spectrum where they have it in excess, or if they need additional spectrum but don’t own it in a given circle, they can lease it from another telco. This should also alleviate liquidity concerns for the telcos involved. Secondly, telcos will also be discouraged from having idle airwaves. “But now with merely three players in the market with only two of them looking for serious investments, and the government's plan to offer spectrum through an annual schedule, there seems limited need to invest at a high price,” said a report by Motilal Oswal. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="92382529" title="5G in India – does the aam aadmi even need it?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> While spectrum sharing exists today, it’s restrictive and requires both the telcos to hold licenses in the same circle and frequency. TRAI is <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/trai-looking-at-easing-spectrum-sharing-rules/articleshow/92446321.cms">exploring</a> the removal of these restrictions. However, if this passes, the government may end up realizing even less money from auctions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How telcos could bid for 5G spectrum" comment="subhead" text="How telcos could bid for 5G spectrum">How telcos could bid for 5G spectrum</cmsannotation> Analysts at IIFL Securities believe that telcos could go for only 4 out of 10 bands, with Jio and Airtel topping up their sub-GHz holdings. For now, telcos are likely to focus on the crucial 850MHz and 900MHz frequencies, while the more expensive 600MHz and 700MHz frequencies might not see any action, the report added. The mid-range, where telcos already hold over 670MHz spectrum, might not see any action. Overall, the report concludes that telcos could bid for spectrum worth ₹71,000 crore – considerably lower than the ₹78,000 crore that the government scooped up from 4G spectrum auctions. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbis-efforts-to-save-rupee-has-made-a-big-dent-in-its-forex-reserves/articleshow/92654557.cms">RBI’s ‘Save the Rupee’ bill has hit over $40 billion already and it could add another $40 billion this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/ambani-and-adani-valuations-surge-while-tatas-birlas-see-major-declines-in-the-first-half-of-2022/articleshow/92593235.cms">Ambani and Adani valuations surge while Tatas, Birlas see major declines in the first half of 2022</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambani-steps-down-as-director-of-reliance-jio-akash-ambani-appointed-chairman/articleshow/92521472.cms">Akash Ambani to head Reliance Jio - that’s just phase I of Mukesh Ambani’s succession plan</a>

5G spectrum auctions might not see a bidding war as there’s ‘enough’ for everyone

India’s one of the biggest mobile operator, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=BSNL">Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)</a>, a state-owned <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telecommunication+">telecommunication </a>company, is going through its roughest patch yet. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Union+Cabinet">Union Cabinet</a> today is expected to take a call on a proposal by the <keyword id="150664" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="telecom-department">Telecom Department</keyword> to save the company. 
 The proposal is to skim off the assets of all 65,000 <keyword id="30351" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL">BSNL</keyword> mobile towers to another entirely public owned subsidiary company. 
 As per a top government official, the <keyword id="41511" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="idea">idea</keyword> of restructuring the loss making BSNL, monetize its infrastructure and improve its operations and maintenance is on the agenda of <keyword id="6355512" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Cabinet">Union Cabinet</keyword> today. 
 
Some highly placed government officials, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the new subsidiary company could be valued at Rs 20,000 crores while the operations and maintenance of the mobile towers could be outsourced. 
 
BSNL, the government owned Telecom Company, in terms of expansion, comes after Indus Towers- a joint venture between private telecom operators including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Bharti-Airtel-Divests-Over-3500-Mobile-Towers-In-Africa-To-Eaton/articleshow/42037506.cms">Airtel</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+">Vodafone </a>and Idea which runs the largest network. 
 
The purpose behind drawing off BSNL tower infrastructure to another company is to streamline the functioning and improve the quality. At the same time, the operator would earn new revenues by way of tenancy of towers. 
 
The move will also let private investors get involved and operate the BSNL mobile network on lease instead of investing in the set-up of a separate network tower.

BSNL’s future is up for a serious call today!

Yesterday, <keyword id="6354356" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="BlackBerry">BlackBerry</keyword> announced that the <keyword id="1034849" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="BB-messenger">BB messenger</keyword> is coming to Windows mobile and Lumia devices soon. We had a chance to catch up with Krishnadeep Baruah, Senior Marketing Director for <keyword id="2074824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BBM-Asia">BBM Asia</keyword> Pacific, BlackBerry and he gave us all the inside news related to the one of the most used <keyword id="176655" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="messenger">messenger</keyword> service in the world. Here is what he told us. 
 
· How is the BB messenger doing on other platforms such as <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> and <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword>. Any numbers you would like to share? Launched in Oct 2013, BBM on Android and iOS was an instant success globally across the two platforms. The application witnessed 10 Million downloads within the first 24 hours of the application going live. Within a week since its launch, BBM was also amongst the top free overall apps across 35 countries in <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> Play and 107 countries in the App Store, and continues to maintain a strong position in key markets. 
 Today, there are more than 80 million active BBM users across BlackBerry, Android and iPhone. Additionally, BBM also comes pre-loaded on more than a dozen Android OEMs, including most recently <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword>, Micromax, Celkon, Spice and Zen to name a few. 
 
· Is Blackberry planning to monetize the messenger solution on iOS and Android. If so, in what manner? 
We are exploring a number of revenue streams for BBM. Right now our focus is on growing the number of monthly active users of BBM and exploring strategies that help us leverage the strength of BBM such as our passionate user base, our high levels of engagement, our focus on relevant content, relevant conversations and community building. 
 
· What are the next steps in the evolution of BBM and allied services? 
BBM continues to evolve as a social mobile platform for consumers as well as for business customers through innovative features offering simplified ways to connect and share with others. In Feb 2014, we launched an upgrade of BBM for the Android and iOS users adding some new and exciting features enclosed below: 
BBM Voice: This feature allows the user to make free calls to BBM contacts over Wi-Fi or data connection with BBM Voice. The user can also respond to messages while on BBM Voice call. 
BBM Channels: BBM Channels lets customers chat with other BBM users about topics that interest them. Channels can be created by brands, businesses and BBM customers alike and are a great way to communicate directly and immediately with people who share common interests in the broader BBM community. Today, there are approx. 250,000 BBM Channels across the globe. Some of the Indian Channels are: <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Firstpost.com, Ganna, and CCD among others. 
 
<keyword id="285445" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Dropbox">Dropbox</keyword> integration: With Dropbox built in to BBM, users can send a file from their personal cloud directly to a BBM contact. On the receiving end, users can save the file directly to their smartphone or add it to the Dropbox account 
Location Sharing: This unique feature, powered by Glympse, enables the user to share their real-time location with one or several BBM contacts for a specified amount of time. They can specify the duration for which they want to be discoverable by location, through a predefined timer. When the timer runs out, the customers’ location becomes private again 
Emoticons: BBM now has more than 100 new emoticons which have been added to the existing set of emoticons. It is worth noting that a number of the new emoticons have been developed based on user recommendation. 
FindFriends: BBM now includes a new find friends feature that allows you to discover people you know that are already on BBM, allowing invites from within the BBM app. The find friends feature detects contacts in your smartphone contact list that use BBM and allows you to quickly send an invitation on BBM. 
Going forward we would continue to deliver new functionality to BBM across platforms providing users a simple and effective way to stay connected. 
 
· How is the BBM for desktop program coming along? 
We are continuously working towards enhancing the BBM experience for our consumers. We will keep you posted. 
 
· Anything else you would like to add? Future plans etc.? 
With a total base of 80 million users, BBM is one of the largest private social mobile networks, driving real, active conversations. We at BlackBerry will continue to work towards providing our consumers with innovative features that will enable them to connect and share with each other.

Exclusive: BlackBerry Messenger Has Over 80 Million Active Users And Will Continue To Provide Its Customers Innovative Features

<ul><li>India contributes 69% to <keyword id="1106616" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="truecaller" source="Orion">Truecaller</keyword>’s revenue, so even a minor impact coming from India could have larger implications for this Sweden-based company.</li><li>The <keyword id="2617070" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="personal-data-protection-bill" source="Orion">personal data protection bill</keyword> aims to ensure that personal data of Indian citizens is safeguarded and not stored overseas.</li><li>Truecaller claims to be the third largest communication platform in India, after Facebook and WhatsApp.</li></ul>Caller identification and spam blocking app Truecaller — which will soon go for an initial public offering (IPO) in Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden — is worried that India’s personal <keyword id="4839724" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-protection-bill" source="Orion">data protection bill</keyword> may end up to be a business risk for the company. The<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indias-new-data-protection-bill-makes-a-good-show-of-user-rights-but-can-it-deliver-on-its-promises/articleshow/81422687.cms"> personal data protection bill</a> is yet to be approved by the Indian parliament. Any data that can identify an individual — like names, addresses, financial information, IP addresses, cookies, device IDs and other data — are covered under the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. The bill includes requirement of notice and prior consent to use individual data, which limited the purpose for which the companies had processed this data for. These restrictions are put in place so that only necessary data is collected. The Indian government with this will wants to ensure that personal data of Indian citizens is safeguarded and not stored overseas. Truecaller highlighted this bill as one of the risks factors to its business in the <a href="https://corporate.truecaller.com/cms/18eb93ba-f68b-4446-829c-9d1ad3add6a5_TruecallerAB_prospectus2021.pdf">IPO prospectus</a>. It plans to raise SEK 1 billion, which is about $116 million. What does Truecaller say? “If adopted, the act, which is<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indias-personal-data-protection-law-versus-europes-gdpr/articleshow/81504058.cms"> broadly modelled on the GDPR </a>[European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations] will establish a mechanism for protection of personal data and would set up a national data protection authority. It is possible that this act, if adopted and depending on the final form, could have unanticipated adverse effects on Truecaller’s business,” Truecaller said, in the IPO prospectus. “Additionally, if third parties that Truecaller works with — such as advertisers, service providers or developers — violate applicable laws or Truecaller’s policies, these violation may also put Truecaller’s information at risk and could in turn have an adverse effect on Truecaller’s business, revenue and financial results,” the company added. Penalties proposed under the data protection bill, 2019 <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Offence </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Penalty </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Processing or transferring personal data in violation of the bill </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fine of ₹15 crore or 4% turnover, whichever is higher </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Failure to conduct data audit </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fine of ₹5 crore or 2% annual turnover, whichever is higher </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Re-identification and processing of de-identified data without consent </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Imprisonment of up to three years, or fine, or both </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Why will a regulation in India impact Truecaller’s overall operations? The personal data protection bill will impact Truecaller’s operations in India, which contribute about 69 percent to its overall revenue. So even a minor impact coming from India could have larger implications for this Sweden-based company. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">January-June 2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">January-June 2021 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operating revenue (global) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SEK 169,538,000 ($19 million) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SEK 424,670,000 ($48 million) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Loss for the period </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SEK 36,413,000 ($4 million) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SEK 117,622,000 ($13 million) </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Truecaller is the third largest communication platform in India, after Facebook and WhatsApp. About 73% — or 205 million — of its 278.1 million monthly active users are from India. It also counts companies like Uber India, Swiggy, Airtel, Flipkart, Byju’s, Urban Company, HDFC Bank, Unacademy, among others, as its key customers. India is also the biggest market for Truecaller in terms of workforce as 55% of its employees are based in the country. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-tcs-hdfc-bank-icici-bank-and-other-trending-stocks-ahead-of-rbis-monetary-policy-meet/slidelist/86857252.cms">Tata Motors, TCS, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and other trending stocks ahead of RBI’s monetary policy meet</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/heres-why-tata-motors-is-red-hot-even-when-82-of-its-business-is-still-in-the-woods/articleshow/86849799.cms">Here’s why Tata Motors is red hot even when 82% of its business is still in the woods</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-and-youtube-say-they-will-cut-off-climate-change-deniers-from-being-able-to-monetize-their-content-and-display-ads/articleshow/86856039.cms">Google and YouTube say they will cut off climate-change deniers from being able to monetize their content and display ads</a>

Ahead of its $116 million IPO, Truecaller says India's upcoming data protection bill may affect future earnings

New Delhi, Aug 17 () With differences cropping up between two ministries, the Supreme Court on Monday asked Centre to clarify its stand on why Reliance Jio, which is earning revenue by sharing Reliance Communication's (RCom) spectrum be not asked to pay the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues to the government. The Centre told the top court there is a difference of opinion between two of its ministers (Department of Telecommunication and Ministry of Corporate Affairs) on the issue of sale of spectrum during insolvency proceedings. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre and DoT, said the government would support any view taken by the top court resulting in recovery of the AGR related dues. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to give year-wise dues of RCom by Tuesday saying that will be crucial for its verdict on the issue and posted the matter for further hearing for August 18. During the hearing, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Jio said that the company was not involved in any proceedings under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and was not acquiring RCom's spectrum. Mehta said that spectrum sharing is different from trading and the user must pay the AGR related dues. On the divergent view between the two ministries, Mehta said the DoT has constantly maintained a stand that spectrum cannot be sold during insolvency proceedings while the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had sought to allow spectrum sale for maximization of value. The law officer pointed out that the spectrum is allowed to be used by the telecom companies under a contract but the ownership of it does not get transferred. He said that spectrum can never be subject matter of the IBC proceedings and it is a natural resource which is owned by the people and held by the government in trusteeship. "This has been the consistent position of the DoT and it has been upheld by the top court," he said, adding that in 2019, the government has issued show cause notice to RCom as to why the spectrum should not be revoked due to non-payment of dues. The bench said it wants to know, since when RCom has not paid its dues and DoT should also give the year-wise details of demand raised against the company. It also sought to know the details of the resolution plan approved by the committee of creditors for the RCom under the IBC. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Resolution Professional for RCom, said the plan of UV Asset Reconstruction Company (UV ARC) has been approved and according to it RCom will be acquired, its enterprise business will be rebuilt and assets monetized. He said that after RCom sale to UV ARC, banks (financial creditors) will be issued zero coupon bonds worth Rs 15,140 crores rupees redeemable in three to five years. The bench referred to the earlier proposed deal of RJio and RCom (which did not materialize) and said RCom claimed its assets valued at Rs 35,000 crore. "How has the value depreciated so significantly? Where have the assets disappeared", the bench asked. Divan said that in 2018-19 Banks, RCom wanted to sell its company to evade the insolvency proceedings but the deal did not materialise and the IBC became the preferred route. He said that Spectrum is an asset in the hands of the company and its license can be a subject matter of IBC proceedings and it can be bought and sold. He said that RCom's license cannot be terminated during bankruptcy proceedings. The hearing remained inconclusive and the bench said that it would hear other parties on August 18. At the fag end of hearing, Salve told the bench that he will address the court on legal issues of whether the spectrum can be sold under the bankruptcy process. On August 14, the top court had sought the details of spectrum sharing pact between RCom and RJio and said as to why the company using the spectrum of the other firm cannot be asked to pay the AGR related dues to the government. The top court had asked the counsels for Reliance Jio and RCom to place their spectrum sharing agreements on record. It had asked other telecom companies under insolvency, including Aircel Limited, Aircel Cellular Limited and Dishnet Wireless Limited and Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. to specify who is using the spectrum and place the details of arrangement and necessary documents on record. On Aug 10, the top court had asked the DoT to apprise it as to how it plans to recover the AGR related dues from telecom companies facing insolvency proceedings and whether spectrum given to these companies can be sold. Earlier, the top court had made it clear it will not hear "even for a second" the arguments on reassessment or re-calculation of the AGR related dues of telecom companies which run into about Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The top court had asked the telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone to file their books of accounts for the last ten year and give a reasonable time frame for paying the AGR dues. The apex court had in October 2019 delivered the verdict on the AGR issue for calculating government dues of telecom companies such as licence fee and spectrum usage charges. After the top court had rejected pleas by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking review of the judgement which widened the definition of AGR by including non-telecom revenues, the DoT had in March moved a plea seeking staggered payment over 20 years. MNL PKS ABA SJK MNL RKS RKS

SC asks Centre to clarify stand on why Reliance Jio be not asked to pay AGR related dues

<ul><li>BSNL has a net <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/features/story/bsnl-may-shut-down-it-has-no-money-to-pay-employees-all-you-need-to-know-about-bsnl-crisis-1556217-2019-06-26">debt</a> of ₹13,000 crore, and estimated losses to the tune of ₹14,000 crore. </li><li>Tthe government is reportedly working on a revival plan, which also involves giving ‘attractive’<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/bsnl-which-is-yet-to-pay-august-salaries-wants-to-give-an-attractive-retirement-package-to-80000-employees/articleshow/70988909.cms"> voluntary retirement packages</a> to its staff. </li><li><keyword id="168950" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL-employees">BSNL employees</keyword> union wants the company to maximise profits by closing down loss-making exchanges. </li></ul> A 46-year-old BSNL engineer, Ramesh P (name changed) has not received his salary on time for the last few months but he is not worried. “Yes, we as a company are in losses but BSNL has precious land parcels and those are our assets. Our company will not shut down so easily,” he told Business Insider India on the condition of anonymity. The excessive competition from Reliance Jio has left even majors like Airtel and Vodafone Idea wounded and the debt-laden, loss-making BSNL has been one of the victims. The uncertain future of BSNL would have cast a shadow on Ramesh’s family, which used to live from one payday to another. But Ramesh, like many of his colleagues, have taken heart in informal chatter within the grapevine that the company’s land bank may be worth thousands of crores. Not just that, it opens up other opportunities too. Banking on land assets The company’s sprawling 40-acre campus at Gachibowli in Hyderabad is a testament to how BSNL has been making money outside its mainstay telecom business. The campus with lush green vegetation amidst an office and quarters, regularly rents it to shoot movies. A top private school is also in talks with the campus, for a long-term lease, as per sources. In July, the company has started identifying its expansive land parcels that it owns across the country. They believe that at least s 63 of them are in prime locations which might fetch high price, <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/govt-plans-to-transfer-bsnl-land-debt-to-spv-assets-undervalued-says-union/article28916850.ece">as per reports</a>. The idea is to monetize land, along with tower and fiber assets to cut down the debt. The company is <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/features/story/bsnl-may-shut-down-it-has-no-money-to-pay-employees-all-you-need-to-know-about-bsnl-crisis-1556217-2019-06-26">saddled with a debt</a> of ₹13,000 crore, and estimated losses to the tune of ₹14,000 crore. However, the government is reportedly working on a revival plan, which also involves giving ‘attractive’<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/bsnl-which-is-yet-to-pay-august-salaries-wants-to-give-an-attractive-retirement-package-to-80000-employees/articleshow/70988909.cms"> voluntary retirement packages</a> to its staff, to make the company leaner and more efficient. BSNL employees are unhappy with the revival plan Not all employees are as happy with revival plan proposed by the government, according to a<a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/bsnl-revival-plan-lacks-vision-staff-union/article29376735.ece"> Hindu report</a>. The dissenting staff want the company to maximise profits by closing down loss-making exchanges. There are as many as 18,000 such exchanges which are weighing down the balance sheet, a letter sent by Sanchar Nigam Executives’ Association claimed. Moreover, just shutting down exchanges may not be a viable solution for the government that has embarked on a ‘Digital India’ plan, which intends to provide Internet and other voices services to every nook and corner of the country. Closing down exchanges would mean cutting off services in areas which private players would never tread. BSNL has licences to provide telecom services in every circle expect Mumbai and Delhi, where yet another government company, MTNL, operates. Both these players have lost ground and are unable to withstand the onslaught of private telecom majors. A tough competitive market along with bureaucratic hurdles which did not allow BSNL to upgrade technology and equipment had led to loss of customers and brand value. Now that the question is of the company’s survival, the employees want the government to lend an ear to their suggestions. “Live today to fight another day’

An unpaid BSNL employee believes the company will survive the current turmoil

<ul><li>The Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) is the only political party in India to include digital privacy in its election manifesto. </li><li>Their objectives include putting a stop to ‘bulk surveillance’ and scrapping the Aadhaar biometric identification for social welfare measures. </li><li>Other political parties in India are yet to unveil their election manifestos. </li></ul>The Indian general election, the world’s largest and most expensive democratic exercise, is only two weeks away but only one party is promising digital privacy in its election manifesto — the Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M). The party is not only promising to stop ‘bulk surveillance’ but also scrap the Aadhaar biometric system of identification for welfare measures, which has faced its fair share of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nine-years-later-80-of-indians-are-still-not-convinced-the-worlds-largest-biometric-id-system-is-secure/articleshow/64406235.cms">controversy</a> since its initiation like the data breach in 2018 where the information of 1.1 billion people was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Here-are-the-most-controversial-data-breaches-of-2018-that-affected-Indian-users/Quora/slideshow/67155554.cms">exposed</a>. <div type="image" title="Excerpt 1_" msid="68628377" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Excerpts from CPI-M&amp;#39;s election manifesto &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 Section 69 of the Information Technology (IT) Act has often been <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-editorials/a-spy-state-home-ministrys-blanket-surveillance-order-must-be-tested-against-fundamental-right-to-privacy/">scrutinized</a> to be in violation of citizen’s right to privacy. It was also <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/government-s-surveillance-order-key-to-national-security-mha-officials/story-4gNFGn0hyUuz0XrEDuq9NJ.html">challenged</a> by the Indian Supreme Court for being “illegal, unconstitutional and ultra vires to the law.” Even the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 has been under the gun for the same issue, where Section 49 allows the concentration of power to be in the government’s hand when it comes to ordering and reviewing surveillance, without necessitating any court orders to do so. A PWC <a href="https://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications/2018/an-overview-of-the-changing-data-privacy-landscape-in-india.pdf">analysis</a> cites that ‘holistic application’ of the data protection framework in should be one of the key underlying principles. <div type="ExtQuote" text="There should be clear provisions and judicial supervision of any surveillance that violates citizens privacy. Enact data privacy laws that protect the people against appropriation/misuse of users private data for commercial use." auname="Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M General Secretary while releasing the manifesto"></div>

 The manifesto also outlines curbing the monopolies of telco operators like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone. According to Caravan’s <a href="https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/government-helping-reliance-jio-monopolise-telecom">report</a>, government decisions have had a pivotal role in helping Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio consolidate its power in the telecom space. To be fair, the other leading parties of India — the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) — are yet to lay out their plans. State of <keyword id="7476018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-privacy-in-india">data privacy in India</keyword> The CPI(M) cites the intrusion on the right to privacy, enshrined in the Indian constitution, as an ‘áttack on democracy’ in their manifesto. Even the Supreme Court has come out to say that the right to privacy should be one of the key cornerstones for a strong data privacy regime in India. According to a <a href="https://www.analyticsindiamag.com/annual-consumer-survey-on-data-privacy-in-india-2018/">survey</a> conducted by Analytics India, 79% of Indians aren’t comfortable with their data being sold to third parties. But, the Dell’s Global Data Protection Index 2018 nearly half of Indian businesses are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/data-protection-for-indian-businesses-inadequate/articleshow/68613117.cms">already</a> on the road of monetizing user data — that too without adequate data protection protocols in place. The United Nations Human Rights’ <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/freedomopinion/pages/opinionindex.aspx">Special Rapporteur</a> on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has mentioned that without the full guarantee of the right to privacy of all individuals, the right to freedom of opinion and expression cannot be fully enjoyed. While other manifestos are awaited, India's bill for data privacy was introduced under the BJP. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-personal-data-protection-bill-global-ceo-concerns/articleshow/68389336.cms">Here’s what global tech CEOs have to say about India's data protection laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/data-protection-for-indian-businesses-inadequate/articleshow/68613117.cms">Indian companies know how to sell data but not how to protect it</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-google-india-data-localisation-issues-npci-issues-enquiry/articleshow/66878922.cms">Whatsapp, Google yet to fully comply with India’s data localisation norms despite repeated inquiries from the government</a>

Only one Indian party promises digital privacy in its election manifesto so far

<ul><li>InShorts, that started with a simple idea of summarizing news in 60 words, has now achieved a revenue run rate of $10 million per annum in FY19 and is aiming to double the figure this year. </li><li>InShorts has more than 300 advertisers and adds around 10 new advertisers every month. Its clientele list includes global <keyword id="31174" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="brands">brands</keyword> like Vodafone, OnePlus, Mercedez, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Myntra, among others. </li><li>The last big brand to leverage InShorts’ branded content was Netflix for 13 Reasons Why, Ghoul, Narcos</li></ul> It was in 2013 when Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav of IIT Delhi, and Deepit Purkayastha of IIT Kharagpur came up with the idea of curating the most significant news items of the day and serving them in 60-word summaries. This was later tested on a Facebook page which quickly got the reader’s attention and within a few months, the team launched a mobile app called ‘News in Shorts.’ Cut to now, InShorts has around 300 advertisers investing on their platform and around 10 new advertisers come on board every month. The first brand to advertise on its platform was Airtel and now its clientele includes global brands like Vodafone, OnePlus, Mercedez, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Myntra. “We have done multiple campaigns with Netflix for their web series like Narcos, 13 Reasons Why, The Umbrella Academy, and Ghoul. For Amazon Prime, we have done a campaign around Oscar-nominated sci-fi movie - Ready Player One, a Comedy-drama series - Whiskey Cavalier and many more. We have also partnered with brands like Toyota, Levis, etc, in the past,” shares <keyword id="38485" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tarun-Arora">Tarun Arora</keyword>, CMO, Inshorts. InShorts has achieved a revenue run rate of $10 million per annum in FY19 and is aiming to double it this year. It further aims to increase its user base by 3X in three years from its current user base of 10 million people on the back of its unique advertising model. It targets the smartphone generation who are short on time and want to stay updated with the current affairs. Hence, the majority of readers are from metros and Tier I cities. It gets 38% of traction from the age group of 18-24 and 40% of its users are in the age group of 24 - 35 years. Advertising Model It was InShorts’ advertising model that became a hit in a few years and helped it become operationally profitable in 2017. On the other hand, Circa, a short-form content portal, failed to monetize its platform despite raising $5.7 million. Inshorts pioneered the concept of short-form branded content on its app, which is the driving wheel for its growth and profitability. Arora says a few more content platforms followed their suit later. Currently, the platform has non-intrusive ads, broadly divided into six categories -- out of which ‘60 words branded story’ is the most preferred one. Whereas the most engaging formats are ‘Digital Magazines’ and ‘Fact Cards’; the former is a mix of creatives with gifs, videos, and polls and latter is a compilation of interesting facts about a brand, industry or an occasion day. Fact Cards are highly engaging as they get shared on social media very often. ‘Digital Magazines’, on the other side, helped Netflix get 3X more engagement as compared to text ads for its series - ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ within two weeks of its release. Plan Ahead After building a strong user base in Tier I cities, InShorts is now betting big on Tier II and Tier III cities. “The app now is pretty popular amongst influencers like enterprise professionals, politicians and CXOs throughout the spectrum. We are also trying to penetrate into Tier III cities, where we have seen a high potential of users. The future looks even more exciting with this next half of the population joining the digital generation. Our plan is to continuously work on solutions that would best suit the content needs of these new internet users,” concludes Arora.

How InShorts garnered a revenue run rate of $10 million on the back of its advertising model

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Digital+advertising&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Digital advertising</a> is the future of the industry. However, pop-up ads and unwanted re-directs often ruin the user experience. The same goes for gaming. While people love playing engaging games, the obtrusive ads that pop up randomly irritate, annoy and finally turn off gamers. <a href="http://www.greedygame.com/" target="_blank">GreedyGame</a> is looking to change all that. 
 <keyword id="3156877" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="GreedyGame">GreedyGame</keyword> is an in-game <keyword id="1751384" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Native-Advertising">native advertising</keyword> platform that helps brands to tap into their precise target demographic. While obtrusion often ends up running audience bases, in this case publishers can monetize content without that fear. How you ask? GreedyGame solves it with its proprietary <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=native+advertising&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">native advertising</a> platform. That way, gamers can enjoy gameplay seamlessly, without any annoying ads interrupting their experience. 
 
The team 
 Bangalore-based GreedyGame Media Pvt Ltd was founded in the year 2013 by <keyword id="383847" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Arpit-Jain">Arpit Jain</keyword> and <keyword id="3354197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Arink-Verma">Arink Verma</keyword>. Arpit is an alumnus of IIT Ropar. He has worked with PayPal Innovation Labs and led several social entrepreneurship projects like LabourChowk and FarmFresh, before starting GreedyGame. 
 
How do they do it? 
 
In-game objects like the background, characters and so on are blended seamlessly with ads, These dynamic native ads helps engage audiences even while they are playing their games. This will empower game developers to monetize their game development though non-intrusive advertising, and gamers won’t complain! 
 
Current Partners 
GreedyGame is working with over 50 games in India. The likes of Nazara, Reliance, Games2win, Octro, Nextwave, Hungama and Disney in the gaming industry, and brands like PepsiCo, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>, Gatorade, Vespa, Airtel, Fastrack, EA, Amazon and Marico, among others have worked with them. 
 
With over 1 million daily active users, Best Marketing Spark award (2015-2016) from Marico and recognition as a Madlabs partner company, this startup has a lot under its belt. 
 
How are they selling? 
GreedyGame has a differential pricing model based on internal analytics of user interaction, engagement and complexity of the game. It charges on the number of sessions, including a cost per session. 
 
A session starts only after the end-user has crossed 60 seconds of gameplay, with the platform usually charging $8-10 for every 1,000 sessions. Currently, the company claims to have reached over a million users. 
 
In September 2015, the firm raised a seed fund of $200,000 from Times Internet and other angels like ex-Flipkart heads <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ankit+Nagori&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ankit Nagori</a> and Sujeet Kumar among others. 
 
Expansion plans 
 
GreedyGame recently appointed Samuel John to the role of Head of Operations. John was previously the Director of Operations at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=InMobi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">InMobi</a>. His experience has driven <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=InMobi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">InMobi</a>’s international operations plans, and GreedyGame is looking to leverage the same. 
 
In the coming six months, the startup is looking to expand its operations to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 
 
Market 
According to <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/NLyFWGO2OEZ0aIUjY5keqM/Mobile-ads-are-fast-becoming-central-to-marketing-strategy.html" target="_blank">media reports</a>, mobile advertising in India has grown from a $25-million market in 2011 to $70-$80 million in 2015. Industry estimates say companies are spending 2-4% of their overall media advertising budgets on mobile ads, and it’s growing at a hefty 60-70% annually.

This mobile advertising startup can give stiff competition to the likes of InMobi

It’s 2020 and there’s no more need for logistics, people are delivering--helping each other out. Where travelling is earning, if not earning then saving at least. Can you envision a system like that? Where eCommerce companies are saving more than burning, people are more than satisfied with 1 day delivery system. “That’s such a dream,” No it’s not. Here we’re talking about the concept of <keyword id="3305303" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shared-economy">shared economy</keyword>, <keyword id="3500727" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Crowdshipping">crowdshipping</keyword>. Let’s say I’m leaving for San Francisco today from the capital, I post that on the app, and people buzz in wanting to get their packages delivered through me, I negotiate with them on the cost and it’s done. I save, if not 50 percent, then at least 20 percent of the cost of my travel. The same applies on the domestic travels. 
 
Let’s take you to the other part of it. It’s the mango season and I’m desperately craving for it but too lazy to gout and buy them from the nearby market. So, I drop in a request on the app, saying I need a kg of fresh Alphonsos. People nearby (Just like Uber), get the notification and they start placing bids on the cost they’ll be delivering. Rs 50 , is acceptable, i click on the accept button on the bid by a person X. 10 mins and my mangoes are here. Hooked? This is not just a fantasy anymore, BeckInstant and BeckFriends are right here. 
 Founded by <keyword id="3192861" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deep-Malhotra">Deep Malhotra</keyword>, Shikha Pandey, Mayukh Basu and Rahul Basu, <keyword id="3524803" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BECK-Instant">Beck Instant</keyword> went live late last year while <keyword id="3356157" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BECK-Friends">Beck Friends</keyword> came into play this May. Talking to Deep, he said “The team got together on the idea to build something that can simplify sending anything anywhere in the world. The need for sending things from one place to another is ever increasing. But, there is no simple single interface that can be used by users. Our solution to this problem is to build a user led single interface with an opportunity to earn for users.” 
 
So, what are BeckFriends and BeckInstant? 
 
<a href="http://beckfriends.com/">BECKFriends.com</a> is a peer-peer international delivery network. They offer a single platform to users to send anything anywhere in the world. Deep stated it’s a platform that offers you multiple options to send your package anywhere in the world. The product connects travellers with the package senders and also offers you an opportunity to earn as you travel. The end objective is to enable logistics through technology to cater to diverse shipment requirements all over the world. While BeckInstant enables users to send anything, anywhere in the city on the same day. 
 
Addressing Security Issues 
 
People have often argued about the uncertainty of delivery in crowdshipping, how do you plan to counter it? 
 
To answer this I will like to tell you how BeckFriends.com Work: person who wants to send a parcel anywhere can connect with other users of BECK Friends over the platform where details like location, details of delivery and pickup and picture of the parcel need to be filled. The platform’s algorithm then gives an estimated pricing based on factors such as the time requested for delivery, the package size and the distance. Other users can then respond to the request, which delivers a notification to the sender and gives him/her an option to see the Facebook profile of the user interested in making the delivery. Once the interested party is approved by the sender, numbers are then exchanged through SMS. This ensures privacy as well as establishes trust for both parties involved. 
 
We are mitigating the risks by having verified profiles for the users. By making users connect other social profiles online along uploading scans of Govt IDs like: PAN Card, social security ID, Passport etc. which will get authenticated by third parties within 48 hours making the user profile as verified profile. Along with this the user can also insure the delivery very soon using an insurance option by paying a small fee. 
 
 
 
Monetization &amp; Traction 
 
Deep claims that BECK Instant does over 3000 deliveries a month with over 90% repeat customers. While recently launched BeckFriends which went live couple of months back has already done over 200 deliveries within India &amp; International. 
 
The monetization model is quite simple, for BECK Instant the company charges Rs.100 for first 5 kms and Rs.10 per km for every additional km. Furthermore, Deep stated that “We’re at average 15% profitability on each delivery we do.” 
 
He further added, “For BECKFriends.com, we are currently focusing on signups to get users on board to experience the product. Currently we do not charge to the users, but we see several revenue streams for the near future. The simplest being, charging a convenience fee. We currently are not focused or worried about the monetization for BeckFriends.com. Once we have people hooked on to the platform and understand the value of the service, it is the user who will lead us to the revenue model.” 
 
Funding Status 
 
The company is currently being bootstrapped by the founders. Though when asked Deep he stated that they’re looking for the ‘right investor/s’ and raise $7 million to setup international offices, expand on technology, user acquisition, expansion in other international markets. 
 
About Founders 
 
Deep Malhotra 
 
A veteran professional with more than 14+ years of entrepreneurial and start-up experience, Deep Malhotra is a Co-founder at BECK Technology Ventures Pvt. Ltd. In his role, he leads the team with along with spearheading the organizational strategy and funding-related aspects, and is also responsible for overseeing the product and the overall business. Deep was part of the founding teams of Google India &amp; Fox Interactive Media (MySpace.com) in India prior to that he was with Rediff.com. 
 
Shikha Pandey 
 
Shikha as a Co-Founder, overlooks the operations &amp; marketing at BECK Technology Ventures Pvt.Ltd. She has over 10 years of experience that started with Public Relations from where she moved on being part of the marketing teams at HUL &amp; Bharti Airtel. She focusses on keeping the operations optimised, lean and efficient and the marketing impactful, widespread and noisy. 
 
Mayukh Basu 
 
Mayukh recently graduated from BITS Pilani with a predisposition for risk taking. He is passionate about Computer Vision and building practical products. Currently Co-Founder at BECK Technology Ventures Pvt.Ltd and working on building a scalable backend. 
 
Rahul Basu 
 
Rahul is on board as the co-founder and looks after the technology development at BECK Technology Ventures Pvt.Ltd. He passed out of BITS Pilani last year &amp; has previously worked with companies like SIEMENS, Bhilai Steel Plant &amp; San Diego state university where he worked on a project funded by Pearson &amp; NASA during his college y

This Startup Helps
You Earn While You Travel, Have Cash on your BECK Now!

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Facebook posted <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-q3-earnings-2014-10">strong third quarter earnings</a> on Tuesday evening.
The theme of the earnings call was Facebook's future, and how the company can use its current success to invest in long-term goals that will make it an even stronger company over the next decade.
Facebook's CFO Dave Wehner and CEO Mark Zuckerberg both said that next year, Facebook will be making a series of aggressive talent and ad tech investments that will set it up for a successful future. But that could mean Facebook's expenses will increase 50%-70%.
Zuckerberg also outlined his 3, 5, and 10 year plan for the company.
In summary, he wants to have multiple Facebook products - WhatsApp, Messenger, Search, Video, NewsFeed, Oculus and Instagram - each connect 1 billion users. Once those have reached mass scale, then he'll start to aggressively monetize them. 
He also wants to improve the advertising experience for brands, particularly on mobile. Facebook will be investing in ways to better target and measure campaigns through data. It wants to help brands measure online to offline sales conversions. Currently advertisers only spend about 11% of their budgets on mobile, according to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, because the right tools aren't yet in place.
Finally, Facebook wants to build the next major computing platform, which Zuckerberg believes could be augmented reality and Oculus. He also wants to bring the Internet to more people through Internet.org.
"We're going to prepare for the future by investing aggressively," Zuckerberg said. 
"The strength of the business today is putting us in a strong position to invest in the future," Wehner added.
Here's the transcript of Zuckerberg's plan, <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/2607755-facebooks-fb-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-on-q3-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript">from Seeking Alpha.</a>
On previous calls, you've heard me talk about our big company goals of connecting everyone, understanding the world and building the next generation of platforms. These goals are important for us and part of our foundation of our strategy for the next decade, but achieving these will involve many different efforts and steps along the way, some that will be achieved rapidly and others that are going to take longer.
So with that in mind, I'd like to run through our progress this quarter on the different efforts that we expect to deliver a lot of impact over the next three, five and 10 years.
Let's begin with our three-year goals. Over the next three years, our main goals are around continuing to grow and serve our existing communities and businesses and help them reach their full potential.
When you look at the size and engagement of our community, our progress remains very strong. 864 million use Facebook every day and across our core products, we continue to see huge engagement. For example around 700 million people now use Facebook Groups every month. Achieving this scale shows that we're delivering experiences for the way that people want to share and connect.
Another example is our progress on public content. Last quarter I talked about how we're working to connect people around important public moments and personalities on Facebook. This quarter we've continued to build on our results and there are now more than 1 billion interactions every week between public figures and their fans on Facebook.
The investments we have made in video have also played a big part here. This quarter we announced a new milestone for video on Facebook achieving 1 billion video views, a day of made of videos. During the summers the ice bucket challenge drew more than 10 billion video views by 440 million people which is a good sign of how far our video product has come.
Instagram has also made a lot of progress this quarter. In August, the Instagram team launched Hyperlapse, a standalone app for time lapse of videos on iOS. The team has also invested heavily in improving the speed and performance of Instagram on Android. This has helped drive Instagram's strong international growth which in some countries has achieved more than 100% year-over-year growth. Globally, people using Instagram now spend around 21 minutes a day on average using the app. This is a strong figure compared to the industry and a good sign that Instagram's strategy is on the right path. Our other big focus over the next three years is to continue to serving businesses well and creating a lot of value for marketers.
As our results show, our approach here is working. To continue delivering value for businesses, we work to improve the quality of ads and news feed by reducing low quality content and improving our targeting to show more timely and relevant content. We've also made some big advances in our ad tech, most importantly the launch of our new Atlas platform. Atlas offers marketers a lot of new capabilities to help reach people across devices, platforms and publishers as well as improving measurement in online campaign. We're very excited for the future of Atlas and Cheryl is going to talk more about this in a moment.
Next, let's talk about our strategy over the next five years. Over the next five years, our goals are around taking our next generation of services, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Search and helping them connect billions of people and become important businesses in their own right.
One big priority for us here is messaging. And continuing to build and grow Messenger and now WhatsApp as well as great services. This quarter we made an important change to our mobile messaging efforts by transitioning people to Messenger on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. We believe that this change allows us to offer a better and faster messaging experience on mobile, and our data shows that people who use Messenger, usually respond to messages about 20% faster.
This month we also completed our acquisition of WhatsApp. I'm excited to be working with this team and John to join our Board. WhatsApp continues to be on a path to connect more than 1 billion people around the world and we're going to be working into accelerate their efforts here. Another key part of our strategy is helping developers to build more great social experiences on our platform.
Over the next few years, our goal is to make Facebook a cross-platform platform that allows developers to build, grow and monetize their apps across every major mobile platform. We've continued to make good progress here. This quarter, we opened our audience networks to all developers and publishers, allowing over 1.5 million advertisers on Facebook to extend their campaigns across mobile and for developers to begin monetizing their apps.
We're also excited by the continued adoption of App Links, our deep-linking technology for mobile apps. App Links is now used by hundreds of apps across iOS, Android and Windows phone and in just the past six months, the developers have created links to more than 3 billion individual destinations in these apps.
Now let's talk about how we're approaching our goals over the next 10 years. For the next 10 years our focus is on driving the fundamental changes in the world that we need to achieve our mission, connecting the whole world, understanding a world with big leaps in AIs and developing the next generation of platforms, especially in computing.
This is a very big period, a very busy period for our efforts with Internet.org. In July we worked with Airtel to launch the Internet.org app in Zambia. This provides free data access to a set of basic internet services for health, education, employment and communication. The results from this are very encouraging. We've already heard a lot amazing stories about how people are using the internet to add value to their lives. We hope to bring the Internet.org app to many more countries soon.
Over the last few months, I've also travelled to several countries and met with policy makers, key distributors and people and communities that are coming online for the first time. Increasingly industry and governments are seeing expanding internet access as one of their core priorities. This is positive development for our work with Internet.org in our long-term goal of connecting everyone in the world.
Finally, let's talk for a minute about our progress of Oculus. As I've said before, with Oculus, we're making a long-term bet on the future of computing. Every 10 to 15 years, a new major computing platform arrives and we think that virtual and augmented reality are important parts of this upcoming next platform. This quarter, Oculus continued to make progress towards this vision.
In September, the first Oculus developer conference took place, where we announced a new prototype VR headset on the path of a consumer version of the Rift. We continue to see a lot of excitement in the developer community and we've now shipped more than 100,000 of Rift developer kit to over a 130 countries. It's still early for Oculus but we are encouraged to see the variety of apps and games being developed for this platform.
Internet.org and Oculus are just two of the huge opportunities ahead. Our efforts here will take longer to achieve their full impact, but we're going to continue preparing for the future by investing aggressively. So that's how we're approaching our strategy over the next three, five and 10 years, while focusing on our big goals of connecting everyone, understanding the world and building the next generation of platforms.
This has been a quarter with strong results. I want to thank the entire Facebook community, our employees, our partners and our stockholders for their continued support. Because of your contribution, Facebook continues to grow in strength and to create greater value in the world for people, partners and businesses. We have a long journey ahead, we're on the right path and I'm excited about the progress that we're making.

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