We've been propogating the thought for sometime now that India as a country has bypassed the e-commerce age (only 2 in 100 Indians have access to the internet). The numbers are there to back the story: the internet penetration in the country is about 38 million while cellular phones have already reached 160 million and are growing at a rate of 6 million new users every month. Clearly, the reach and hence the usage of mobile services today is a lot higher than that of the internet.
Yet, there's always been an arguement that the degree of freedom and number of options that the internet provides in terms of entertainment and knowledge is far greater than that the mobile can ever provide. The two killer apps that resulted in the e-commerce boom - e mail and chat - have not really been replicated in a widespread manner on the mobile platform. True, blackberries and other such technologies allow quick e-mail access but these are at best available to an extremely limited section of the cell-phone using audiences. Chat has loosely found an interpretation in messaging but since it is not real time, it has remained by and large a means of information exchange rather than dialogue.
The magic of chat online was that it allowed people to create a world of their own, create alter egos and establish meaningful dialague with like-minded people who may or may not be a part of their peer group. Chat was the earliest form of social networking which later matured into evolved online forums such as orkut.com, etc. M-commerce has yet to replicate/find a tool that allows for people to form social networks of their own online.
Came across an article in Mint today which spoke about the initiation of voice chat with other people much in the same way that a traditional chat session in a chat room used to work: - the person logs into the service on his mobile phone, he gets a registration ID which also acts as his "nick" (if you may call it), then he can dial a three digit number to log into a mobile chatroom where people are introducing themselves verbally, if interested..they dial the person's reg ID to get in touch with him/her.
To me, this particular feature of voice chat marks the beginning of social networking on the mobile phone. It's the one feature that can really explode the VAS market for mobile service providers (VAS currently accounts for only 10% of the ARPU). The service is gaining rapidly in popularity too; its already been introduced in 13 out of 22 circles, almost all major providers provide the service (barring Airtel).
And in the long term, it'll end up being just as addictive as virtual chat rooms. Considering the fact that its a lot more authentic than online chat rooms can ever be (let's face it: it'll be tough for a 60 yr old man to pass off as an 18 yr old damsel here), a lot more "real time" than online can ever be and a lot more entertaining; i wonder whether this unique form of "mobile networking" may well be next big thing.
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