1. This project demonstrated the relevance and utility of video telephony to meet the emotional needs of rural masses in India by launching 3G video calling booths at existing public call offices (PCOs). 2. Research showed a need for visual communication among rural migrants and their families. A pilot launched 8 video booths in Delhi and Bihar, generating 392 demo calls and 127 paid calls over 4 months. 3. Effective communication approaches like van promotions, community meetings, and household visits helped overcome barriers of awareness and affordability, driving behaviour change in migrants' communication habits.

1. There
areseveral
over-the-top
applications
ontheInternetikevideo
l
chatthat
areusedbymillions people
of
globallyor long-distance communication
f
visual
today
thatconnectsmotionally.
e
Acomputer
witha high-speed
broadband
connection
isanecessary
toolto usethisapplication.

2. Background
Withthe introductionf 3Gand4Gtelephony-that
o
gives
broadband
access
andmobility-in India, hereis greatpotential bridge
t
to
theprevailing
digital
divide thiscountry.
in
Themostoptimistic
forecasts
predict
asubscription
base
! I

3. ofabout
350million
wireless roadband
b
subscribers
by2015.Thisstill leaves ph
viv
about
abillion
people
withnoaccesso high-speed
t
Internet
services.
ne
Research
indicated needfor long-distance, communication
a
social
channels
wi
amongst
thepeople the baseof the pyramid.
at
There significant
is
migration
ofpeople
fromruralareas urban
to
locations
forlivelihood,
skillenhancement MJ
or
education.such
For
people,
continuous
electricity
supply,
maintenance
ofcomput- the
ers,
spacend
a theminimum ofcompetence
level
needed
tomanage
these
assets us
are
barriers
totheadoptionfweb-based
o
applications.
Sofar,these
people
have Fig
vid
had
torely
onlong-distance
telephone
callsasthesolemeans fcommunication.
o
3G
technology,
deployed
foryears
around
theworld, asthepotential meet
h
to
this
requirement
ofvisual ommunications.
c
Currently,
itsglobal ptake
u
isbeing
driven
bytheneed
formobile
broadband.
Currently,
thereareno"killer
applications"
forbase
ofpyramidegment duetocomputer
s
(BoP)
literacy,
languagend
a
cultural
barriers.
3Ghasthepotential beused
to
forvarious pplications
a
inthe
form
ofbothvoice
anddata.Despitehelaunch 3Gservices,
t
of
theacquisition
cost
ofthistechnology
bytheBoP
consumer
isveryhighas:
. Both
personssing
u
thistechnology to have
need
3Gdevices.
. Bothersons toactivate
p
need
3Gservices
ontheir hone.
p
which high
have tariffs.
Hence,
allequipment
manufacturers
andtelecom
service
providersavebeen
h
working developing viablebusiness odel hatwouldput thistechnolon
a
m
t
ogy ithin
w thereach
ofthemasses.
Ericsson Pvt.Ltd.approached
India
MART
in2010 conceivenddevelop newbusiness odel round
to
a
a
m
a
shared
video
telephony theexisting ublic Office
using
P
Call
(PCO)
footprintinthecountryor
f
takingGservices ruralmarkets.
3
to
Marketing Challenges
The
following themarketing
were
challenges withrespect
faced
toimplementation
of3Gservices
inruralmarkets:
.
.
.
.
Affordability.
Veryhighperceivedndexperienced
a
acquisitionostof 3G
c
technology.
Awareness.
Lowlevelof awareness
about pplications 3Ganditsbena
of
efits.
Availability.
Thenecessary
equipmentmaynot beeasilyavailable.
Accessibility. the time of the initiationof the study,onlyBSNUMTNL
At
had
thelicence provide
to
3Gservices ndtheirnewnetworks eingdeployed
a
b
were
available
onlyuptodistrictowns.
t
The MART Approach
MART
followed three-step
a
approach overcome
to
thesechallenges nd
a
achieve
thebusinessbjectives:
o
Th
1. Research. studied profile PCO
It
the
of
users
andanalysed
theirtelecom
usage ehaviour.
b
2. Strategy. designed pilotfor testing
It
a
andassessing
video
telephony
for
thelow-income
masses.
3. PilotImplementation.demonstrated relevancendutilityof video
It
the
a
telephony meetheemotional
to
t
needs masses nd,intheprocess,
of
a
generate newbusinesspportunity
a
o
forPCO
owners.
Th
sue
1.
2.
3.
The Business Model
There definite
isa
need
fora visual ommunication
c
channel
intheBoP
market.
The whichheralded
PCO
thetelecom
revolution India30 years
in
agois now Th
asunset
industry.
Thisis dueto the highpenetration mobile
of
communica- die
tion,
which
isslowly
wiping
outPCOs.
MostPCOs ave
h started
diversifying
into tob

4. hotocopying,
mobile
sales
and/or epair,
r
saleof rechargeoupons,
c
etc.tosurive. tisonlythelow-income
I
group
thatstilluses
pcastomake
calls. hebusiT
essisnotbooming,
butisstillrelevant. owners erewilling
pca
w
toexperiment
lithnewtechnology,
hoping newopportunity drawbackcustomers.
fora
to
IART's
research
reinforced
twoinsights-theneed
forvisual ommunications
c
in
IeBoP
segment
andtheadoptability thepca booth platform
of
asa
forshared
sage. ricsson
E
IndiaPvt.Ltd.gavethe go ahead project amne
to
A
Saamne.
igure showshesteps
1
t
MART to convert shops Aamne
used
pca
into
Saamne
deobooths.
I Fig.1 I
Converting
pcastoAamne
Saamne ideo
V
Booths
Handset
selection
---v--
[
he Communication
Collaterals
(Creatives)
~
Campaign
Iemarketingommunication
c
campaign ascrucialn making
w
i
thisconcept
a
Iccess.
MART athree-pronged
used
strategyorthiscommunication:
f
n
Create
anemotional
connect
forthemigrant
Category eedawareness.
menwhooftenmisstheirfamilies
andloved
ones
Giving
video
telephonyas oneof thesolution
forthatneed. emonD
strate
thetechnology means
asa
tofill uptheiremotional
vacuum
BrandIntroduction.
Visual ndreminder edium induce
a
m
to
migrants
to
trythetechnology
Ieaccompanying shows
video
howMART itslearning
used
fromthetarget ua
mceto develop
thecommunication
strategy ndimplement
a
thispilotproject
bringthedesired
behaviour
change.

5. . Launching forVideo
thePCO
Telephony
.
- Merchandising PCOto raiseexistingcustomer's
the
inquisitiveness.
Create
'talkoftown'among
thetarget udience
a
- For
communication
atthePCO
(pCO
backdrops,
danglers,
standees,
posters)
Educating
thePCO
customers
andtarget opulation
p
- Posters ithdifferenthemes
w
t
(twotypesoneshowing
wifefromvillage
talking hishusband metroandotherparentsromvillage sonin
to
in
f
to
metroandthirdposterhaving addresses videobooths
all
of
I.e.callof
action make
to
call)
- Leaflets
withaddresses
ofbooths benefits fvideo
&
o
telephone
application
astakeaways
which
people
cankeep
intheirshirt'spocket
MART
developed
fivetypesof collaterals:
leaflets, osters,
p
standees,
banners
anddanglers.
Themessage/punch weredeveloped
lines
to:

6. I Fig.2 I
Reaching
outtotheTarget
Audience
0
Target udience
a
0
Consumer
activation
Community
contact programme
programme
Van
mass wareness
a
> Tonarrow
down
to
programme
thefinalusers f
o
0
> Toreach
allthose
video
telephony
PCDs
whose
relatives
areinDelhi
> Tocreatea buzz
> Toinduce
actionaboutinthe
> Toreinforce
the
makingideo
v
calls
villages
through
communication
through ousehold
h
vanpromotions
visits
message
through
community
> Targeted all
at
> Targeted
atend
meetings
villagers
users
> Targeted
atthose
families hose
w
relatives
have
migrated
toDelhi

7. Scale and Result
Thetotalduration pilotimplementation
of
wasfour months,rom research
f
to pilotimplementation.
Thescaleof the pilotwaseightPCDs-fourin Delhi
(clusters heremostof the migrantsromBegusarai,
w
f
Biharlive),andfourin
Begusarai, Thefollowingesults
Bihar.
r
wereachieved
through
thisproject:
.
.
.
Understanding
theusage
andattitude
ofpeople
towards ommunication
c
Understanding needfor social ommunicationsthe baseof pyramid
the
c
at
anditspotential
market
Demonstrating
theuseofvideo
telephony
booths
asviable
business odel
m
Table
1captures
therelevant
statisticsegarding
r
theoutcomes
oftheproject.
Above
allelse, iththehelpof 3Gtechnology,
w
thispilotbrought
about change
a
inthebehaviour migrants
of
fromBiharnterms
i
ofcommunication
modes.
This
project onthe national
w
ruralmarketingwardin 2010 fromRural arketing
a
M
Association
ofIndia
intheICT
category.
Inconclusion, telephony thelowest anging pportunity 3Gservice
video
is
h
o
for
providers
across
theglobe improve
to
thepenetration technology theBoP
of
in
segment,
thus,rendering a potential
it
service adoptionythemasses.
for
b
The
business
model
willcontinue
torevolveroundhared sage. pilotshowcases
a
s
u
This
aproof ointorallstakeholders
p f
involved-policy akers,
m
service roviders,
p
rural
entrepreneurs,
andtheecosystem
atlarge.

8. .
introducea solutionto the need,Le.,to be ableto seethepersonhey
t are
talkingon phone---Pehle Baal,Ab PhoneParHiMulaqaat,
Sirf
. detailthe benefitsof the applicationn a simpleandeasy-to-understand
i
manner-BaalKame
KiKhushi
Dikhayi
DeAbPhone ar, nd
P a
. avoidpeoplemisunderstandinghis servicefrommobileinstead ffrompca
t
o
boothsandcountervillagers'perceptions
aboutnewtechnology cos~y
being
and unaffordable---PCO KijiyeapnonSe Mulaqaal SNUMTNL
Se
B
Kecall
DaronPar.
MART
usedothercommunication rogrammes swell(see 2). hese
p
a
Fig. T
included:
. Promotion a mobilepublicaddressystem
using
s
. Cycle-rickshaw
promotion
. Community
meetings
. One-to-one
household
meetings

9. I Table I
1
TheReach
oftheAamne
Saamne ilot
P
Reach
Number
2,355
People
contacted
through
thepromotional
campaign
Total emo
d
callsmade
392
Callsmade(Behaviour hange)
c
127
Totalcalls made
519
Discussion
Questions
1. Whatwerethe keybarriers the adoptionf 3Gservices? did
to
o
How this
project chieve
a
theacceptance
ofanewconcept?
2. Why
werePCDsargeted
t
inthismodel
asthedelivery
channel? rollout
"The
of3Gservicesanrevive
c
thePCD
business
inrural ndia.Giverguments
I
a
in
favour f andagainst
o
thisstatement.
3. Whattriggered actualbehaviour
the
change? hich
W
communication
approaches ereeffective bringing bouthischange?
w
in
a
t
Whf?
4. What ouldbetheotherpossibleuraldeliveryhannels
c
r
c
thatcould e
b used
fordeliveringideo
v
telephony
services?
.