After reading Jason’s recent blog it got me thinking about they way we use data and how it affects tech startups. I’ve noticed the increase of telcos offering data bundles which allow people to use certain apps solely for a certain period of time. Now these data bundles are super cheap ( e.g mtn whatsapp weekly 25 naira and monthly 60 naira). How do you feel this might affect tech startups who have website based models. I mean when people are limited to just these apps this means they will spend less time in their browser right?
It means they have no intention of using the browser or other apps in the first place which makes them not your audience
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Unfortunately sir, this is incorrect. What this means instead is that your app will never stand a chance of finding an audience.
This argument has been fought and lost our position should be same with America’s - 'we cannot allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas’. This is clearly not the case here and of course detrimental to startups (at least for the unlucky ones).
I understand the stance of net neutrality, and I have followed conversations around it over the years, especially with regards to the shiny new target - Facebook’s internet.org. However, let’s be real here rather than philosophical.
The guy with a Nokia 1100 who is comfortable making calls and receiving text messages isn’t your man. The guy whose friend has told him about Whatsapp and saves up 12k to buy an Infinix phone and pays 60 naira monthly for access isn’t your man either. If the plan didn’t exist, chances are that he wouldn’t be renewing his 2k monthly subscription often anyway because he considers it just too expensive.
You are already building to target people who are already online, check their mails often, and use google to find answers when stuck on a subject. Those are your people. The introduction of application specific bundles does nothing to reduce the valuable number in that crowd. At the very least, it opens up awareness of the internet to new people.
Overreach much? Clearly you’re not on one of those plans, and don’t intend to. So…
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I believe things will change soon. Data is becoming cheaper. So there will be no need to subscribe for only specific apps.
Not in a effort to be cliche here but I can’t help it. My mom doesn’t understand computers and doesn’t intend to - a classic technomoron. She has never coveted her kids’ smartphones or even asked what we do on it. She loves her money dearly and something has to be damn important before 1,000 naira goes into addressing it. That said, the only reason I have ever considered getting her a smartphone has been to be able to leave her messages on Whatsapp. As of today, she’s rather content with her weird phone that accepts four SIM cards.
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Those examples you’ve provided don’t represent all the various deals/tech being struck as part of data bundles.
To paraphrase the OP’s question, ‘would I care if my competitors app is included as part of a data bundle?’. Of course I care! Another subtle but important point is that, even when people are not particularly sensitive to data usage, a bundled deal locks them in irrespective of that fact as its available and accessible.
I don’t quite understand the last bit of your post.
Also, perhaps before you rush in to say someone’s response is wrong, maybe you should state the paraphrased question you would rather have answered. OP clearly stated app bundles like Whatsapp’s. I’ll take that to include stuff like Etisalat’s video bundles, etc. His direct question was how we feel this will affect tech startups with website based models. My response was likewise direct.
Anyone willing to let go of a full data plan for application specific ones wasn’t fully invested in the first place. Forget the angle of net neutrality for now and see this from a more general POV. Let’s say I’m a gaming startup with a flagship game that targets phones with high-end GPUs, I won’t carry pitchforks over the availability of low end phones, even if they come preinstalled with Angry Birds.
In this example, I agree you clearly won’t mind. However, if you were myorbi (voice based), would you mind that WhatApps (text based) is pre installed and zero based? They’re not exactly serving the same purpose and matter of fact I’m sure myorbi guys will rightly argue that they’re not competing as they have different target audience. However, who (including the creator) knows, ALL the use cases of a product?
Similar examples are country specific information like Naijalingo or livinginlekki compared to Wikipedia (as a zero based app). Not in obvious conflict but surely for some queries, Naijalingo will prefer that Wikipedia is not zero based as they could provide more relevant info.
The point from all these examples is how do you determine which zero based app should really be considered a startup competition/conflict free zone? What category is so entrenched that no other startup should bother creating an alternative? Then at that point the questions need to be asked:
- Is there an unfair advantage when an app is zero based and or pre installed
- If an advantage exists, will it be detrimental to the survival or adoption of another app
And let’s go with your views and forget about net neutrality because it’s too general. But remember that nothing is new and Mircosoft IE explorer browser wars is an example of how the need to keep the playing field level, is such an important concept for competition to thrive.
Since you said ‘I don’t quite understand the last bit of your post’ in reference to above, it’s also worth touching on this as well
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A lot of apps are in competiton with each other for consumers attention/time even when not in the same industry.
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Consumers attention/time is not infinite i.e. only 24hrs and in a mobile first continent, can only use one screen, one app at a time.
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If a user spends 2 hrs in facebook, that’s 2 hrs not spent watching iroko or netflix. Or if a user spends 2 hrs in wikipedia, that’s 2 hrs not spent in jumia or wechat. It’s sometimes as stark as that - one or the other.
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When you introduce zero based app into the mix, this provides an additional incentive for a user and also convenience (if the app is pre installed) to spend time in the app.
That’s what I meant by my earlier statement. IMO, zero based apps included as part of bundled deals are not harmless to startups. To be clear, a million things are more toxic to startups than zero based apps, so not advocating that anyone stays awake worrying about this.
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@xolubi @PapaOlabode
Thanks for the insights guys.
I do agree with @xolubi in the fact that these data users are not our immediate market. However look at it this way. A few years ago the blackberry subscription plans introduced alot of Nigerians to the internet. They had access to BBM, host of other apps and most importantly a browser. The difference is now first time users are given the option of only using whats app or the Facebook app. Dont you feel this will limit there Internet literacy growth ( just made up that term). Imagine if the target market we have now had the options of these social bundles when they first came online, would they be buying products online today?
I agree with @xolubi @PapaOlabode on some of their POVs.
The assumption is these apps will only be installed on smartphones anyway as they are built for smartphones (this goes without saying)
So this nullifies this statement on the one hand re phone model but validates on the other re just calls and texts - up to an extent.
Then if the apps we are talking about here are for smartphones only (because they are) and the man with a Nokia 1100 gets a smartphone then it changes the whole dynamics. He is introduced to the power of the internet, pre-installed apps or not.
Pre-installed apps will surely create problems for startups as they are competing against this cheap access to these pre-installed apps. This cheap access is what locks people and makes it detrimental, not necessarily the ‘Consumers attention’. The convenience of having ‘all i need’.
If he remains on his Nokia 1100, he is definitely not your man
If he has a smartphone, he is definitely your man
if he is your man and with cheap access to pre-installed apps - we’ve got a problem
Loads of good points and of course I’m not in anyway knocking @xolubi 's points as well. Matter of fact, in this case @dayo_gmk confirmed that data users are not his immediate market. So it’s all good.
However, like I said earlier I don’t for one second believe bundled apps are harmless to startups. If you like long reads, messaging and mobile platforms by Benedict Evans is a good recommendation. You can make up your mind from there.
‘The potential to turn messaging into a platform is the Trojan Horse that drives a lot of the excitement in the sector’
We all can agree the power of messaging and mobile platforms and bundled apps restrict phone owners and limit access to other apps web or mobile.
*Just as an addendum - shame about Secret
