A VAS (Value Added Service) Idea for Mobile Operators

[ateebih]

Hi,
Any Mobilink, Ufone, Telenor, Warid or Zong professionals working on
VAS (Value Added Services) here?

I am currently a student at the Institute Of Business Administration
(IBA), Karachi. While trying to find a solution to a problem, I came
across an idea for a VAS for mobile operators. Its something not being
done CURRENTLY by any mobile operator in Pakistan & also not by any
'mobile operator' in the world (to the best of my knowledge & internet
search).

The VAS has the potential to significantly increase ARPU; Is
practically implementable without high upfront cost or acquisition of
rights, expensive technology etc; AND best of all, this is the sort of
VAS that users MIGHT use MUTLIPLE TIMES A DAY instead of once a weak
or month (like Teledoctor, etc). And, its especially useful (though
not limited to) the corporate customer market.

I have worked a bit on the costing of the service, the technical
details, and the benefits to users & to the company that introduces it
etc. But since I still have 1 1/2 years of my studies left AND I dont
work in a Teleco, I cant benefit as such with the idea (though I would
have loved to work on it :). Thus, I want to share the idea BUT only
with the right person who is currently working on VAS in a local
mobile operating company (Someone who can actually use & benefit from
the idea).

If anyone is interested, please contact me via email on:
ateeb.i...@khi.iba.edu.pk

Regards,
Ateeb Iftikhar

[Babar]

Good luck Ateeb :)

> ateeb.iftik...@khi.iba.edu.pk
>
> Regards,
> Ateeb Iftikhar

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Throw it out there, may the best (wo)man win.

[_dm+]

Seems interesting Ateeb. But can you come up with one or two example supporting your idea?

Thanks,

D

--
_dm+

+92-322-2456916
http://digitalogics.wordpress.com
Engineer - IT Network Infrastructure and Security
Augere Pakistan
Tom Stoppard  - "I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity."

[Fawad Niazi]

This is interesting thing ::: A person with IDEA have no confidence to share !!!!!!!!!!!!! Reason is the lack of professionalism in Pakistan.

 

Once in my university, my dean had introduced a platform to share ideas (University took idea and market it) ::: Guess what would be the outcomes !!!!! No Intellectual Property Rights.

 

MAJU MBA head also shared this arrangement in MAJU and when i asked about the credit to student or sth for the surity of student that idea is not likely to be copied !!!!! He had no answer.

 

I personally feel we need University-Industry Strong relationship with some surety for students.

 

Students use to have brilliant ideas ::: Knows nothing how to implement it or someone think they have discovered USA again whereas the idea would have already been someone else brain child.

 

Dear Ateeb Share it here to know its worth; and pray that you get due recognition otherwise it will be of no use

[Muhammad Asif Rao]

Absolutely agree with Fawad,


Regards,

@$if

[Hassan Shabbir]

Well I am no expert but my advice for your ateebih is to please be extremely extremely sure about the person with whom you share your idea. Its not a sort of place where you can just publish your idea and hope for the best to happen. One practical approach can be to just share  information that is clear enough to explain the basic idea but does not reveals information that makes it totally implementable. Me being a student have seen many ideas which were mistakenly floated by a number of able students on various discuession groups getting implemented with a totaly new name and brand. So please be careful. Its only an idea which makes or breaks you. 

Hope you get my point.
--
Thanks,

Hassan Shabbir Ahmed

Find me at,
ICQ # :  479422577
Skype:  hassan_shabbir
Cell:     +92 300 2410830

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

I respectfully disagree. An idea is worth nothing, the only thing is execution, doing it right. There are many online stores but not all are an Amazon or an eBay (and there were many in competition with them in their hay days). You should bounce your idea on as many people as possible and get as much feedback, the more you share, the more your idea will improve. Often the final version is very different from the first.

So, I'll say it again, an idea alone is worth nothing (ask someone to pay you for an 'idea' you'll see what I mean). Share with people, and if you are serious, implementing this idea while you are studying is the safest way to start a company. My strong advice is to start now when you have very little liabilities and you have a lot of start people (classfellows) around you who can help you implement the idea. Get in touch with someone in the telecom industry, as much as I hate to say it, all innovation in telecommunication is at the hostage of the telecom gate-keepers, as long as they say yes to you, you can do it. Ofcourse, that 'yes' comes with eating a major portion of your revenues and even exclusivity.

WS
-Nash

[Babar]

An idea with a patent can be a start of something worthwhile.

On Nov 14, 2:17 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I respectfully disagree. An idea is worth *nothing*, the only thing is

> execution, doing it right. There are many online stores but not all are an
> Amazon or an eBay (and there were many in competition with them in their hay
> days). You should bounce your idea on as many people as possible and get as
> much feedback, the more you share, the more your idea will improve. Often
> the final version is very different from the first.
>
> So, I'll say it again, an idea alone is worth nothing (ask someone to pay
> you for an 'idea' you'll see what I mean). Share with people, and if you are
> serious, implementing this idea while you are studying is the safest way to
> start a company. My strong advice is to start now when you have very little
> liabilities and you have a lot of start people (classfellows) around you who
> can help you implement the idea. Get in touch with someone in the telecom
> industry, as much as I hate to say it, all innovation in telecommunication
> is at the hostage of the telecom gate-keepers, as long as they say yes to
> you, you can do it. Ofcourse, that 'yes' comes with eating a major portion
> of your revenues and even exclusivity.
>
> WS
> -Nash
>

> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 3:43 PM, Hassan Shabbir <hassan.ahmed.b...@gmail.com

>
> > wrote:
> > Well I am no expert but my advice for your ateebih is to please be
> > extremely extremely sure about the person with whom you share your idea. Its
> > not a sort of place where you can just publish your idea and hope for the
> > best to happen. One practical approach can be to just share  information
> > that is clear enough to explain the basic idea but does not reveals
> > information that makes it totally implementable. Me being a student have
> > seen many ideas which were mistakenly floated by a number of able students
> > on various discuession groups getting implemented with a totaly new name and
> > brand. So please be careful. Its only an idea which makes or breaks you.
>
> > Hope you get my point.
> > --
> > Thanks,
>
> > Hassan Shabbir Ahmed
>
> > Find me at,
> > ICQ # :  479422577
> > Skype:  hassan_shabbir
> > Cell:     +92 300 2410830
>

> > On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Muhammad Asif Rao <masif....@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> Absolutely agree with Fawad,
>
> >> Regards,
>
> >> @$if
>

> >> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 12:46 PM, Fawad Niazi <niazi.fa...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >>> This is interesting thing ::: A person with IDEA have no confidence to
> >>> share !!!!!!!!!!!!! Reason is the lack of professionalism in Pakistan.
>
> >>> Once in my university, my dean had introduced a platform to share ideas
> >>> (University took idea and market it) ::: Guess what would be the outcomes
> >>> !!!!! No Intellectual Property Rights.
>
> >>> MAJU MBA head also shared this arrangement in MAJU and when i asked about
> >>> the credit to student or sth for the surity of student that idea is not
> >>> likely to be copied !!!!! He had no answer.
>
> >>> I personally feel we need University-Industry Strong relationship with
> >>> some surety for students.
>
> >>> Students use to have brilliant ideas ::: Knows nothing how to implement
> >>> it or someone think they have discovered USA again whereas the idea would
> >>> have already been someone else brain child.
>

> >>> *Dear Ateeb Share it here to know its worth; and pray that you get due
> >>> recognition otherwise it will be of no use*

>
> >>> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 10:06 AM, _dm+ <danish.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>>> Seems interesting Ateeb. But can you come up with one or two example
> >>>> supporting your idea?
> >>>> Thanks,
>
> >>>> D
>
> >>>> On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 10:30 PM, Muhammed Nasrullah <
> >>>> nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>>>> Throw it out there, may the best (wo)man win.
>

> >>>>>> ateeb.iftik...@khi.iba.edu.pk

[bmug...@gmail.com]

Always share ideas but not the big idea. That's your stength you don't want to give away and also a marketing aspect to hold back the surprise till the party. You can share as many ideas as possible that ultimately support your big one, basically this is also how it is done in focus groups. Be open to negative and positive feedbacks, get as many as possible. The more the merrier!


*** This Message Has Been Sent Using BlackBerry Internet Service from Mobilink ***

-----Original Message-----
From: Babar <babar....@gmail.com>

Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:29:27
To: Telecom Grid Pakistan<telecom-gr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: A VAS (Value Added Service) Idea for Mobile Operators

[ateebih]

Thanks to everybody for their valuable advice & input. Let me just add
my two cents :)

First, I totally agree that lack of intellectual property rights in
Pakistan is a major impediment to innovation in our country. But in
the case of Mobile VAS its very difficult to claim intellectual
property. If it wasnt I am pretty sure that a VAS service introduced
by one Mobile Operator would not be copied with a different name by
another without the later getting sued. But this is not the case :)
Usually though, the first mover gets the most benefits of introducing
the service especially "reputational" benefits & the followers risk
being labeled "copy cats" by the public.

Personally, I do not possess a "scarcity mentality". This is not the
ONLY idea I will ever have in my career. I am confident of my
abilities to generate many more. As far as recognition is concerned, I
am grateful to God to have always gotten me a lot of recognition for
whatever I have done so far from colleagues, my university, and
various organizations. Sometimes, in order to accomplish larger goals
you forget about who gets "credits". And as Harry S. Truman (One of
the greatest US Presidents) said:

"You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind
who gets the credit"

Also, as a business studies student, I know that it takes a lot of
work to turn an "idea" into a real profit making business opportunity.
And how various factors (including product costing, margins, business
constraints & regulatory requirements etc) can make a product or
service idea "impracticable" or "unfeasible" to pursue. I have myself
worked on some of these factors before making the post here. But this
is why I specifically mentioned in my post that I only want to share
the idea with the "right person" (someone who is currently working on
VAS) so that, at least, even if (in their opinion) the idea is
unfeasible or impractical I can gain valuable experience & insight
from the interaction.

I am afraid individuals who do not posses VAS background may not be
able to properly evaluate a VAS idea for its "real business
potential". And this is why I am not posting the idea on this blog or
a public forum. I also do not want to share the idea with more than
one telecom company because I feel that the company that shows
interest in any idea/innovation first has every right to benefit from
it fully being by being the first mover in the market. And especially
in the competitive mobile operator market. Other players will catchup
soon anyways by being copycats. And consumers will be net winners.

Therefore, I am only seeking to interact with a VAS professional from
a telecom company. Someone who can actually evaluate the idea for its
real worth & successfully bring it to the market if its feasible.

[ateebih]

[Sameer Bokhari]

The relevant laws for Intellectual Property rights are very much there in Pakistan. Have a look at this website http://www.ipo.gov.pk/ . 

 

I dont think a mere Idea or an innovation could be protected legally and the same goes for a VAS by a mobile operator.

 

 

Sameer

----- Original Message -----

From: ateebih

To: Telecom Grid Pakistan

Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:01 AM

Subject: Re: A VAS (Value Added Service) Idea for Mobile Operators

[Faraz Javed Awan]

You can contact Vectra Com located at Fayyaz Center, they are mainly dealing with almost all the GSM Operators in Pakistan and abroad or For Mobilink send an email to custom...@mobilink.net mentioning you need the VAS Manager contact number or email so you can setup a time with him.

 

I think the guy name is Bilal the Head of Marketing, its been a while i'm out of Mobilink i am unable to recall his full name. or you can contact Naeem Zamindar the PMO Head and heading Broad Band Division of Mobilink he can be of good help.

 

Good Day...

 

Regards

Faraz Awan

--
Regards
Faraz Javed Awan