(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Mahindra Comviva, a value added service provider, has a long-standing relationship with Etisalat with engagements on multiple fronts Mahindra Comviva is among the leading firms providing value-added services (VAS) to telecom companies globally. In the UAE, a partnership with Etisalat has resulted in propping up the revenue stream for the telecom behemoth and expansion of network. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Kaustubh Kashyap, Vice-President, Middle East and North Africa, Mahindra Comviva, shares details on the business model and what makes the firm stand out among stiff competition. Excerpts:
Mahindra Comviva is among the leading providers of mobile finance and VAS. What services are you providing to Etisalat and how has this partnership benefitted the operator and users?
Mahindra Comviva and Etisalat Group have a long-standing relationship of more than eight years, during which we have engaged on various solutions like mobile commerce, messaging, analytics and entertainment solutions. The partnership has resulted in revenue enhancement and longevity on the network for various operators of Etisalat Group.
Where are you based and in which countries do you operate?
We are headquartered in New Delhi, India, and have offices in multiple locations across the world. We have been operating in the UAE for almost a decade, providing sales and support to our customers in the region. Mahindra Comviva is among the leaders in the MENA region, working with more than 20 telecom operators across 15-plus countries with over 25 deployments. Across the globe, Mahindra Comviva has customers in over 90 countries with 130 deployments, predominantly inthe Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with regional offices in each of these locations.
What is your company"s vision, and what differentiates you from others?
We have innovation at the heart of our business strategy and positioned ourselves as a leader in digital solutions with the vision to impact "the business of tomorrows". In accordance with this vision, we make digital payments easier, digital entertainment richer, broadband faster and enhance customer experience through interactive customer engagement solutions. We are among the few solution providers that span the breadth of offerings with a ubiquitous reach across six continents.
Give us an overview of the services being offered in the UAE.
Mahindra Comviva is part of the Businesses of Tomorrows, offering a portfolio of solutions, spanning commerce, content, contextual marketing, and messaging and data to telecommunication companies and enterprises. The key solutions that Mahindra Comviva offers are:
Commerce: eTopUp/eRecharge; mobile money/wallet and mPOS solutions.
Content: Digital lifestyle and VAS solutions on mobile app, WAP, USSD and SMS.
Messaging and data: Messaging nodes (SMSC, USSD, MMSC, WAP, Call Management); Broadband solutions (Policy Enforcement, Smart Policy Controller and Caching solutions).
Analytics and BSS: Customer Value Management (CVM) suite, VAS SDP, OCS, and integrated CRM suite.
Operations support solutions: Monitoring tools to improve and manage customer experience.
In addition, Comviva is betting big on cloud-based offerings, assisting customers with faster time-to-market.
What are the future plans for the region?
Mahindra Comviva is targeting a 250 per cent growth in revenues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the next three years.
We are aggressively focusing on extending our footprint across the region to achieve the next growth phase. The main focus of the company is to target large operator groups, banks in GCC countries, and key large markets like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and Morocco. As a result, Mahindra Comviva is expanding its presence in the region to reach out to customers in these markets. Our commercial models are going to evolve by using global business models customised to local requirements.
We have introduced our innovative offerings in big data analytics to assist operators to increase revenues, achieve higher retention, and improve customer experience by promoting spends by extending subscribers" age on the network and providing unified and consistent experiences across the touchpoints of the subscribers.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing in the region?
The markets are getting saturated and slowing down the growth of telecommunication companies, forcing them to re-look at their business models with customers and suppliers, and identify new revenues streams and cost-cutting opportunities. On the other end, the banking industry is going through a transformation ?to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.
How does this region compare to others and does Mahindra Comviva have to change any of its strategies to fit in?
With over 10 years of presence in the MENA region, Mahindra Comviva has gained extensive market expertise and know-how, which it can now exploit to provide differentiated portfolio of offerings across the region. Mahindra Comviva is not only being considered as a technology partner, but also a business partner for major operators and banks in the region.
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Suneeti Ahuja Kohli Suneeti Ahuja-Kohli has been in Dubai long enough to call it her spiritual home. She loves to travel but plans to settle down in Koi Samui, Thailand eventually to spend her sunset years by the sea. For now, she writes frequently on personal finance, retirement planning, business news and features, health and almost anything assigned by her editor. Her sojourns can be followed on instagram (suneetiahujakohli), news and views on Twitter @suneetiahuja, and for the rest, theres a Facebook account.
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