Cellnext ties with cell majors to provide content 

Delhi-based Cellnext Solutions--an Escorts Group company--has chalked out a business model whereby it will provide integrated solutions for content providers on one hand and and aggregate content for cellular service providers on the other. It has tied up with all the cellular service providers in the country and is now approaching select content providers for tie-ups. 


"We have tied up all the mobile operators in the country. Our value proposition to cellular companies will be the sourcing of content from a single source, and content providers will not have to worry about distribution of content to various cellular operators," says Atanu Mandal, CEO, Cellnext Solutions.

Initially the focus of Cellnext is to tie up with utility providers like banks, stock exchanges, railways, airports, etc. The logic being at current download speeds of 9.6 Kbps, users are likely to access only information-based content. Later when GPRS-based 3G services will be available, the scope of content is expected to encompass entertainment as well as games. 


Currently, the company has tied up with major stock exchanges in the country like BSE, NSE, Nasdaq, and banks like ICICI, Bank of Punjab, Federal Bank and HDFC to use their gateway for transactions. Recently it has also tied up with Indian railways to provide regular updates on train schedules. It also offers a directory service.

The revenue model is based on a fixed and variable component. At the service providers end, Cellnext will charge a fixed component on a case to case basis as well as 25-50 percent of the transaction that takes place through the content provided by Cellnext. Similarly on the content providers end there is a fixed and variable component. For instance, its alliance with Indian Express to provide news is a fixed payment. While for some utility-based services, the payment could be a percent of the transaction. Since the services are provided on the SMS platform, the charges are currently a fixed sum. The real cash flow is expected only when services will begin to be charged on the basis of air time usage.

When a wireless user dials into the services, the signal will travel through the operator's network into Cellnext's data center to be conveyed to the respective content provider. The content provider's back-end is already integrated on Cellnext's platform which will direct the signal to the concerned provider through a special URL to retrieve data. The data will then be pushed through Cellnext's gateway to the user.

Cellnext Solutions, set up in mid 2000 with an investment of Rs 10 crore is focussed on providing solutions in the wireless space. The current initiative is focussed on the middleware space but the scope also covers wireless application design and development.

The company is part of Nokia's developers' forum for designing applications for its access devices. It has also recently signed an MoU with Lucent Technologies to avail its labs in Kuala Lumpur in order to test its solutions for 3G services.

(CNS)