We are very young and it is an advantage: Arvind Bali

Interview with Videocon Telecom director and CEO

For Arvind Bali, director and CEO, Videocon Telecom, being a latecomer in the telecom sector is an advantage. Not only has the company entered the market with better technology, it is committed to serving the customer just like he wants to be served. The company has spectrum in seven circles and has a target of Rs 1,000 crore this year, with Rs 2,500 crore in the next financial year. Set to launch 4G by next July-August, Videocon is looking at more market penetration and riding the data wave. Edited excerpts from an interview.  

Videocon is back in the reckoning and is eager to prove its mettle. What are some of the top things on your to-do list?

We got a new spectrum in January this year. Since then, our first priority has been to be comparable to the best in the industry. At present, barring the top three market leaders, quality of our network, coverage, and indoor area convergence is among the best.

Ever since the 2G scam, trade investments have been slow. Thus, our second priority has been to engage with the tradespeople in a big way. We conducted a lot of meetings, city by city, from town to town, inspiring trust in us. We are doing a lot of marketing communications, signage and so on to reach out.

 

You have been allocated spectrum for seven circles. How has the feedback been so far? How do you plan to expand your presence in India?
Wherever we are, the customers are very happy with us and are coming back to us again and again. These services go by a lot of word-of-mouth publicity and we are certainly getting a lot of positive feedback.

Our biggest customer base and target audience is the youth – college-going young adults and those who are studying in classes 10, 11 and 12. Our customers also include those working in the SME sector – small entrepreneurs.

 
All these people seek our products for its value-for-money commitment. For decades, Videocon has meant giving you the best value for your money. We have given our word to the trade and customers that we will be at least 15-20 per cent cheaper.
 
So how you do manage to keep an eye on your balance sheet while keeping such low prices for the customers?
We have excellent network coverage. Our towers, mobile switching centres (MSCs) and media gateways are of the latest technology. We are able to provide the best price without any compromises on quality. For instance, our GPRS is the best in the industry. We have a 2.75G network, which is far superior to the 2G network.

 
Most importantly, however, Videocon as a company has a manufacturing background and we are always focused on our cost of operation. We keep a close eye on costs and pass on the benefits to the consumer. Anything that we do, we try to keep our operating cost to the bare minimum. This will keep us ahead of others.
 
Also, with changing times, there is a lot of media sharing, data centre sharing and so on. We will share everything and look at ways to cut costs. We have the advantage of looking at options, while others who are already present in the market have invested heavily in building and maintaining things from a scratch. We are very young and it is an advantage. 

 
With so much competition in the mobile service space, where do you see the telecom sector in the next couple of years? Where do you see Videocon in the next two years?
The best thing about this sector is that it allows for the latest technology. It is a sector that will only permit what is topical. There has been a quantum leap in voice and data and it will only increase. You see, no one can talk more than 400 minutes; there is a limit to how much time you will spend speaking on the phone. For data, however, there is no limit – you keep wanting more and more. First, it was checking cricket scores. Now you want to watch matches on your smartphone and movies too. This segment will increase exponentially and usage and penetration will increase accordingly, too. Even today, I see that we have only 5-6 per cent data penetration as a country. A developed country has 45-55 per cent of data users.

 
More and more people are opting for hand-held devices for their everyday internet transactions, be it purchasing movie tickets, train tickets, hotels, restaurants and so on. And this is not a trend for just the high net worth individuals or the upper class – everyone will soon find value in it.
 
As a company, Videocon is a late entrant in market. But we came when the data market is booming. Our spectrum allocation will allow us LTE spectrum in the near future. We see ourselves giving the best customer experience. While voice is the basic requirement, opportunities lie in data, something we intend to capitalise on.

 
In your opinion, what are going to be the biggest challenges in the mobile broadband space in the time to come?
 For a wireless operator, spectrum is something that can be limiting. As the customer base increases, you have to buy more spectrum – an expensive necessity.

Videocon is fortunate to be in the 1800 MHz LTE technology category. Here, each tower can have two to three sharers. We will give very good coverage in a short amount of time.
 
The mobile and wireless space is seeing a lot of convergence of devices. What does it mean for a company like Videocon? How do you plan to cash-in on this trend?

This is, perhaps, the biggest opportunity for us. As soon as you talk about M2M (machine to machine), it means you multiply the base many times over. M2M is one of the growth areas and Videocon has every intention to make the best of it. The biggest use of convergence of data you see is in entertainment. For instance, you are watching a match on your laptop in office, you switch to it on your smartphone while going home, and then continue it on your home TV set.
 
Given the challenge of increase in traffic and device complexity, there is an added strain and expectation for customer care. What is Videocon doing to increase and improve the customer experience?

We are the youngest entrants in this field. Thus, we don’t have any legacy of system and technology support from before. A lot of people become operators by merging technologies.
 
We want to serve the customer the way they want us to. Earlier it was enough to meet the requirements and pass on the spectrum to the customers. When it comes to customer experience and customer service, we are serving the customer through call centres. Two, the portal website gives the customer a lot of empowerment. Three, customers like help-a-friend; we are using the social media as a support system and are developing it further. Four, we have multiple touch points and plan to have 500 stores in the next year. Called “Videocon Connect”, these will be integrated stores that will serve you and address your queries on Videocon DTH, handsets and broadband. Five, we are also going to have kiosks, which may be in the form of tie-ups with others.