0		India, might, get, its, first, free, mobile, service, BLYK

A free mobile service is very exciting phenomenon. And that is the first thing a mobile hungry nation wants. Why did it take so long? We need the infrastructure to be in place and we need at least 400 million mobile users don’t we?

No cost. No contract. No Nonsense

Free mobile services is not free as in beer. It comes with some tags attached to it and that is advertising. The mobile service provider will send ads targeted to an age group of 18-24 years and that is how it makes its money.

The companies use this network to send ads which could be responded to, coupons and sampling, or to tap the youth base for feedback on new products.

BLYK is a UK based mobile service provider and has earmarked some 40 million euros for overseas expansion. What best place to start with than the world’s fastest growing mobile market? That is precisely what Blyk is trying to do and is planning to partner with some local players.

BLYK might go the Virgin Mobile route of MVNO. Virgin has used Tata’s network to access 20 million ready-made users. Blyk might just use the  MVNO route where it will ride on existing subscriber base.

Vodafone (another UK based company) and Reliance will be a good bet for Blyk. 200 brands are in the kitty for Blyk and it can get maximum traction for all those brand by targeting the youth. I need to confirm this but my guess is MVNO’s can tie up with both GSM and CDMA.

The Indian market promises huge potential with the number of subscribers crossing the 400 million mark. Ad revenue from mobile networks is still largely untapped and worth about Rs100 crore. (Mint)

100 crores is some serious money. Apparently BSNL has offered similar kind of service but that did not look aggressive enough to cause enough damage on the bigger players.

Since Blyk is an established ad-based player it might have greater success than BSNL and even Virgin.

If you are 18-24 year old then your dream for a phone without worrying about the bill might just end soon.