'We are looking for the right partner, and as soon as we find one we marry'

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Elephant Talk has recently selected mobile VAS solutions from Bharti Telesoft to enhance their service offerings. How is it going to benefit Bharti Telesoft?
The VAS market is on an all time high. Bharti Telesoft is on a roll with their service offerings to the Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) ecosystem in the CEE region. With Elephant Talk's business plans to launch services in twelve countries around the world, we will be partnering them to propagate the regional expansion. Having established a strong presence among telecom operators in the rapidly growing markets globally, Bharti Telesoft now aims to capitalize on this presence by continuing to enhance its current portfolio and develop innovative offerings.

What was the driving force behind the acquisition of Jataayu?
We saw significant synergies with Jataayu. Firstly, both companies operate in the mobile VAS space, but where Jataayu focuses on WAP applications and has a handset application business, Bharti Telesoft focuses on integrated value added services, namely core VAS, m-commerce, m-entertainment and business support solutions. In addition, our geographical presence is complimentary. Bharti has a strong presence in India, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and South Asia, and Jataayu also has presence in Latin America, the US and the wider Apac region.

So, are their anymore M&As in the pipeline?
Yes, we are looking for the right partners, and as soon as we find one we marry.

-Manoranjan Mohapatra, CEO, Bharti Telesoft

What is your plan for tapping the rural market?
Bharti Telesoft has developed its voice portal service with a view to serving rural markets. The subscriber interacts with an IVR system and is guided to required information. Another service launched with the rural community in mind is voice SMS which draws on the SMS concept, but instead of receiving a text message, the subscriber receives a voice message.

Bharti Telesoft had provided PreTUPS to Grameen Phone. How has it helped them?
With PreTUPS, Grameen Phone was able to profitably grow the BOP segment. PreTUPS replaced scratch cards and equipped intermediaries in the prepaid value-chain with a multilingual SIM-based menu to perform role-based functions to distribute airtime. Retailers used their phone menu to replenish a subscriber's account while distributors were able to check the retailer balance, withdrawal limits, and invoices from the handset. In addition, the solution provided the facility to transfer talk time from prepaid-to-prepaid and prepaid-to-postpaid subscribers over SMS.

What will be your focus in the coming year?
Bharti Telesoft will focus on content, community, and connectivity. Also, we are focusing on the emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, where there is great potential for m-banking to transform the delivery and availability of financial services. Our belief is that the suite of m-commerce applications will make a major impact on individuals who previously had no or little access to financial services. We see a wider benefit in the additional overall economic growth.

Sandeep Budki
sandeepb@cybermedia.co.in