Operators forge tie-ups for high-end cellphones

If you want to buy the latest high-end phone, be ready to dump your current service provider. For, when it comes to feature rich handsets, telecom service providers like them to be "exclusive".

The manufacturer and the service provider enter into a tie-up, mostly an exclusive one "" an increasing trend in the country. The exclusivity is retained with the handset maker, who does not provide it to other operators in the particular country or region.

A typical example is that of HTC (High Tech Computer) Touch, a high-end phone with touch screen facilities. The handset is only available to Bharti Airtel subscribers, with the GSM service provider signing an agreement with equipment manufacturer HTC. 

HAND IN HAND
OPERATOR	HANDSETS
Bharti Airtel	HTC Touch
	Blackberry
	Nokia E90*
Tata Tele	Moto Q
	Samsung Duo
	V3M*
Vodafone Essar	Blackberry
Rcom	V3M*
* Likely to introduce

Sanjay Kapoor, president (mobile services), Bharti Airtel, said: "We provide solutions that appeal to high-end customers, and offering exclusive handsets is our segmented strategy to give value-added services. Our revenue per customer is comparatively high, which means that we have a lot of high-value users on our network".

This exclusivity helps the firm in attracting more customers, thereby broadening its base. It also keeps the high-value customers with the company. "Moreover, the introduction of a feature-rich phone will prompt customers from other networks to shift to our services," he said.

The company had an exclusive agreement with Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturers of Blackberry phones, till 2006. However, the contract expired on March 31, 2006, with Vodafone Essar also getting the rights to sell the handsets, which are hailed for their push-mail services.

In India, Blackberry handsets are available only on the network of two operators, Airtel and Vodafone. RIM prefers it this way, and it offers handsets only to one or two operators in a country. Meanwhile, Airtel is believed to be in talks to bring in other models like the Nokia E90 Communicator, a high-speed mobile broadband phone.

Similarly, CDMA service provider Tata Teleservices has recently entered into a tie-up with global handset manufacturer Motorola to sell its high-end mobile phone Moto Q in the country. Moto Q is a QWERTY handset, and Tata Tele is offering it along with free monthly data usage of up to 512 MB. The phone comes pre-loaded with MP3 songs, a Hindi movie and wallpapers.

Ramesh Iyer, vice-president (sales), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, said: "From an operator's point of view, exclusivity is being offered as a value proposition and is a stamp of guarantee from two global telecom majors, Tata and Motorola".

For an operator, this would mean an assured amount of revenue, as this high-end data phone would attract users in the "high average revenue per user" category.

The firm purchases in bulk and gets handsets at a discounted price, which is passed on to the customer. "The user gets the handset at a significantly subsidised rate, and the company gets loyal customers," he added.

The Tata group, which provides telecom services through its Tata Indicom brand, has launched Samsung Duo, a dual SIM-card phone. The phone is available only through Tata Teleservices, but as it works on GSM technology, it might be made available to a GSM provider also. The high-end phone can alternate between two numbers and two technologies, GSM and CDMA.

Likewise, Tata Tele and Reliance Communications are looking at introducing Motorola's thinnest phone, the V3M, on their network.

An industry analyst said that by introducing these top-end phones, the operators intend to send a clear message to users. Like Airtel and Vodafone, which offer Blackberry services, send a message that their network is robust and can support broadband, high-end data and voice services.

"Moreover, users also tend to move over to another network when a fancy or a high-end phone is introduced. The churn due to the scramble for the new phone is around 10-12 per cent," Ramesh Iyer said.

The next top-end handset to be introduced would be Apple's iPhone that enables the use to access Internet and play movies, and also offers touch screen facilities. Indian service providers are believed to be waiting to sign exclusive agreements with the company. However, only one Indian operator will get to offer iPhone services.