Page 59 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2012

November, they welcome localised
apps. Itʹs an add‐on, there is a whole
eco‐system waiting to be developed.
Where are handsets used?
Predominantly in urban areas,
obviously because of higher income
levels more people in urban areas
are connecting to the internet. But
the majority of the population lives
in rural areas so you are faced with
a dilemma. Operators are looking
for growth, they have to go into the
rural markets and offer basic GPRS
WAP connection and at least access
to some kind of internet to rural
customers.
Today our lowest handset is at
$12, thatʹs the basic voice and SMS
only phone, and we have an $18
product that has GPRS. Part of our
urban strategy are the dual SIM
handsets that we offer. The handset
comes with two SIM cards, so SIM1
is locked to the operator and SIM2
is free. A lot of people in the urban
areas already have cell phones so
you are telling the existing user
who is with another network ʹCome
over, keep your number, but come
over to our network as wellʹ. If you
lock SIM1 to the carrier and SIM2 is
open ‐ but only open for voice ‐
then if the user wants to use data he
has to switch to SIM1 which means
that for the operator in question
their data ARPUs will increase. We
have developed little things like that.
What about the potential for
working with broadcasters?
Fantastic potential. Look at what
DStv has done with their DStv
mobile offering, the DVB‐H hand
sets. Today we do aTV which is
analogue TV which comes in some
of our handsets. Itʹs a value add for
the consumer – for him that mobile
phone is a luxury status symbol
and if he can watch a couple of TV
channels on it, he is going to like it
even more. Our lowest Android
phone is $70 ‐ imagine what the user
can do on that Android handset.
What's the key for content owners to
engage with handset manufacturers
and mobile operators?
I think the handset manufacturers
can only do so much, we can only
make the product available but the
predominant channel within Africa
is still the operator, so the operators
have to start engaging. Every
country in Africa has got three or
four operators who over the last
years have made great profits.
Operators have to understand
that they cannot do everything,
they have to focus on what they do
best, and let partners take care of
the backend. Operators are going to
outsource their applications, their
content. They are just going to be a
pipe. There is talk in Africa about
3G and LTE – today we could have
an LTE handset but if the operators
are not ready for it whatʹs the point.
How can providers and developers
monetise content?
The content developers have to
partner with device manufacturers.
It is not easy to talk to Nokia, itʹs
not easy to talk to Samsung, but itʹs
very easy to talk to Mi‐Fone.
We are picking up whatever
local alliances and partnerships we
can, then we can package it into a
handset and give the user a one‐
stop solution. The content is going
to be content which we feel is
relevant to our market.
What's your wishlist?
My vision for Mi‐Fone is to be the
first fully integrated telecoms
company in Africa which means
handsets, applications, channels,
retail, MVNO (mobile virtual
network operators) – we want to be
the first youth based MVNO in
Africa where you piggyback on an
existing operator, assembly plants
in African locations ‐ essentially
fostering African growth and
employment. Statistics clearly show
that the more Africans get
connected to the internet, the more
the GDP increases.
Today a lot of Silicon Valley
money is being pumped into India,
that money is not going to see a
return on investment. India is a
very tough market ‐ you will move
a lot of volume but you will not
make any profit. In two to three
yearsʹ time there is going to be a lot
more appetite for Africa, the most
profitable continent to be on, and
we just want to position ourselves.
Apple is our role model ‐ if we can
just take some of that inspiration
and put it into low‐cost handsets
and offer it to the African consumer
then we have played our part.
Thank you, Alpesh Patel.
Part of our
urban
strategy
are the
dual SIM
handsets
“
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w.mi-fone.mobi
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