The Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) sector in India appears to be suffering from a lack of differentiation syndrome with all the players offering almost the same bouquet of services. The most which VAS content providers can offer in terms of differentiation is by gaining exclusive rights to content. But then this comes at a very high premium and thus this option is financially ruled out most of the times. One would easily come to the conclusion that there is no space for any new entrant in the field as the sector is already crowded with established players. Handygo however has different thoughts on this and is in fact banking on an altogether different approach which it claims is not only path breaking but will also challenge established players.

“Presently Indian VAS players are merely acting as intermediary between content and the end-user. However the need of the hour is to provide content in the way the end-user wants it. For this a fully managed services approach is required which will address issues of information and content dissipation from an end-user perspective,’ says Praveen Rajpal, MD of Handygo while speaking to TelecomTiger.

As a testimony to this approach, the company has unveiled a ‘Behtar Jindagi’ project which is targeted towards the rural segment. The project encompasses as many as eight areas which are of immediate interest to the rural community. These include Agriculture including crops, seeds, fertilizers, mandi price, livestock, fisheries, health (mhealth), finance, education and weather.

“We do not merely offer information updates. A consultancy approach is also included in our offering’” adds Praveen. He says that the rich farming concept (rice fields are filled with water  and fish farming is done on the same field which  contributes to farmers household income, contribute to food security and nutrition ) which is popular in Assam can also be replicated in other areas.

“One of the fisherman Rohit from Jharsuguda Distt. of Orissa called 55678 to get information on pond preparation ,listening to it he subscribed this service for 10 days and simultaneously he used the service for maintenance of pond finally  today he is running his own business of inland fishery,” claims Praveen.

“When compared to another player which is also present in the agriculture space for MVAS, our services are much more comprehensive as they span over 8 verticals. Moreover we provide the information updates to end-users in a format which is most likely to suit them i.e. IVR as for a farmer it will be difficult to interpret information received over SMS. Additionally our fully managed service provider ensures that information provided to the end-user has an advisory touch to it as well and will actually immensely assist the rural flock in arriving at a decision much more easily,” adds Praveen.

Handygo is already present pan-India including states such as A.P., Karnataka, Punjab, UP(W), Bihar, T.N. , Maharashtra, Gujarat, M.P., Kerala, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP(E), West Bengal, H.P., J&K, Orrisa, Assam, Delhi, NESA.

The company is in tie-up with leading organizations including government agencies for information gathering. Some of the names include Indian Meteorological Dept (IMD for weather vertical), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS for Fisheries vertical), CARE for health vertical), India Development Gateway ( INDG,), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (education / livestock / agri vertical) and EKO for Finance.

The services are available in 18 regional Indian languages. Launched in August 2009 the company already claims to have hit the 5 million mark and is aiming for 10 million subscriber base by this fiscal end.

Presently the services are available in 3 tariff options, Rs 10 for 100 minutes and 10 days validity, Rs 20 for 100 minutes and 20 days validity and Rs 30 for 100 minutes and 30 days validity. The company is also setting up a system to enable recharge of the services over an IVR system.

The company is also open to investment from private players to fund its expansion plans.

“ We are confident that our business model and approach will be a game changer for the MVAS sector. We will replicate this same model for our overseas foray soon,” says Praveen.