{Q} How long have you been in the telecom business?
{A} I have been in this business for three years now. Before this, I was a distributor for ITC products, (food category and tobacco), Reynolds and Castrol. Venturing into telecom was a natural progression of my business considering the high rate of growth that this industry has experienced in the past few years in India.
{Q} What made you choose this line of business?
{A} I have always been a distributor, so venturing into the telecom sector was a natural progress. The diversification into an industry that was at its infancy, but had tremendous potential, made me realize that it would be like a challenged and always keep me interested. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for retailers and distributors alike. The total subscriber base, which was 40 percent in 2005, is expected to reach 250 million this year. According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at nine million broadband connections and 18 million Internet connections by 2007. In addition, as we had been doing business with market leaders like ITC, Castrol and Reebok, we wanted to continue with that and we succeeded in meeting the expectations of market leaders by partnering with the likes of Nokia.
{Q} What are some of the pros and cons of the business?
{A} The telecom industry, which has been expanding rapidly in the past few years, has immense opportunities for distributors like us. What is unique about India’s telecom industry is its superlative growth, the fact that it offers the lowest tariffs anywhere in the world and that it is still the single-biggest untapped market in the world. The pros of being in this sector vary from the immense and steady growth; there is always an excitement and challenge in this segment; the level and types of innovations are very high, and there is this opportunity for high value business.
Being in any business has its share of cons too and this telecom industry is no different. Therefore the disadvantages involve a high risk of inventory, it is a very demanding business where time and investments are required in equal quantity. Also, due to the increasing competition in the market, business requires high involvement.
{Q} What is the perception of Nokia among the youth?
{A} Nokia is the number one brand in India and is constantly innovating itself. The mobile handset market, which was largely dominated by the gray market, is now emerging as an organized segment. Most of the sale today takes place at multi-brand outlets where dealers showcase all the brands under one roof. This trend has become a favorable retail format and suits the Indian customer’s psyche. The success of any mobile handset company in India largely depends on the penetration level and after-sales service. Nokia has maintained its marketshare due to the fact that it has been successful in penetrating into every part of the country and offers good after-sales service. It has also maintained the lead by introducing a large range of mobile handsets. Nokia handsets have user-friendly interfaces, are sturdy, strong, trendy, and its features are rich.
{Q} What has been the most significant achievement in your journey so far?
{A} Venturing into this segment has showered me with success and much learning. From the time we started till date the growth of our business has increased multifold. If one has to name one’s significant successes then growing this business more than 10 times and also keeping the infrastructure and other resources required at the same pace and at optimum levels has been our major achievements till date.
{Q} What are your plans to grow your business?
{A} Future plans are ambitious. I intend to further maximize on the profits. This industry has got a lot more to offer and I would like to capitalize and make sure we make full use of the opportunities and abundance in this industry. Indian customers are embracing mobile technology in a big way with an average of four million subscribers added every month for the past six months. They prefer wireless services compared to wire-line services.
Even while the telecom industry in India has grown at an immense rate over the past few years it is relatively a new industry and has not yet completely evolved. Therefore, I would want to device a business module by cherry picking the learnings and practices from other industries like FMCG, white goods etc which would act as a role model distribution business house for the mobile industry.
RASHMI GANESH RAJAPUR
(rashmir@cybermedia.co.in)