The mobile network operators have lately been marketing their mobile internet offers quite heavily. This visible shift, from the hitherto maddening advertising of voice tariffs, could be explained either as a market-development exercise prior to the launch of 3G-enabled data services or as an effort to diversify the revenue streams, or both.
This developing scenario shouldn mean business as usual for the wireless broadband service providers. For, theyd soon be fighting to stay relevant in a growing data market which the MNOs seem set to target aggressively once high-speed mobile broadband comes post-3G. It is too early to say who will prevail in this BSP vs MNO battle for the share of data users, but the wireless BSPs will certainly feel some heat.
Plain vanilla internet services remain the bread and butter of wireless BSPs. Companies like PTCL, Wateen, and WorldCall have been marketing their voice and video services, courtesy their respective OFC networks, but the driver is still the data segment. Other wireless BSPs, like wi-tribe and Qubee, offer only the broadband internet via their WiMAX networks.
Just staying relevant in the post-3G milieu wouldn cut it for the BSPs; they would need to grow as well. For instance, installing a large number of wifi hotspots across the major metropolis may help the BSPs gain some semblance of mobility. It is uncertain, however, as to how long the tradeoff between mobility and pricing may work in BSPs favour, because the MNOs data price curve would be downwards after initial period of premium data tariffs.
Many sector experts opine that besides triple-play services (data, voice & video), the provision of dedicated services like VPN, premium connectivity & content services, and creation of app stores & interactive platforms will be the answer. Presently, the BSPs online portals are mere payment platforms.
Wi-tribe took a lead recently, when it launched beta version of its online platform, "wi-tribe Bazaar". The website states that the Bazaars primary objective is to let Pakistani software developers sell and monetize their software on a simple portal. Various paid and free applications - in interests ranging from business, communications, games & graphics to system utilities - are available on the portal, compatible with Windows Desktop and Mobile Apps for handsets on the Android, Blackberry and Symbian OS.
Huge potential exists in household broadband penetration, for subscriptions were just over 1.9 million in February 2012. There are an estimated 27 million households in Pakistan, most of which need to be made aware of and get interested in using wireless broadband. However, it will be difficult to sustain the business model of distributing free devices and selling limited data plans to data hungry customers.
The future promise lies in the niches. As has been done in the developed and developing economies alike, the local wireless BSPs running on WiMAX technology can also drive massive business volumes in sectors such as utilities, aviation, oil & gas, public safety, transportation, high-speed rail, machine to machine applications, etc. To realise some of that, these BSPs need to hit the ground running!
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