Indian Consumers Interested In 5G & Willing To Pay Premium: Ruchika Batra, Ericsson India

India is a strategic market for Ericsson and the company has been partnering with India through generations of mobility 2G, 3G, 4G and now preparing India for 5G. Ericsson has been in India for 117 years and was the first company to manufacture telecom equipment in India. Today, most of the hardware deployed in their customers' networks is 'Made in India,' which it also exports to other parts of the world. 

The company has been one of the frontrunners to demonstrate 5G capabilities in India. At India Mobile Congress 2019, with Bharti Airtel, Ericsson took the lead to demonstrate the reliability, speed, and low latency of 5G through the Connected Music use case. Apart from this, along with Bharti and Qualcomm, it showcased India’s first-ever live 5G video call using a 28 GHz spectrum.

Ruchika Batra, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Ericsson India delves deeper into how the telecom sector is panning in the current time, its 5G capabilities, marketing strategies, its support to gaming communities and much more.

Q. What according to you are some of the challenges and silver linings in the Indian telecom sector?

We strongly believe that the next phase of socio-economic development of the country will be unlocked by 5G. The rollout of 5G hinges on government policies, investments & device ecosystem. From a network coverage perspective, it is critical that more spectrum bands and adequate blocks are made available to the telecom operators at a reasonable price, which will ensure additional capital for subsequent investments in network deployment. For a strong uptake of 5G in the country, we also need the availability of devices at more affordable prices.

The growing momentum in 5G innovation is based on its potential to serve diverse use cases through performance, edge computing, network slicing, and inherent security. In the future, 5G will give innovators an open network platform that offers all of the benefits of past technology generations — resilience, robustness, and security, among many others – while also being intended for innovation and global scale. According to Ericsson's "5G for Business - a 2030 market compass," the global addressable industry digitalisation market for service providers is expected to reach $700 billion by 2030. The estimated value of 5G-enabled digitalisation revenues for service providers in India is $17 billion.

So, we see a lot of potential in the Indian market and believe that Indian consumers and enterprises can really benefit from 5G.

Q. Given that you spearhead the marketing function at Ericsson, what distinguishes marketing in B2B technology from marketing in B2C technology?

There are many commonalities and differences between planning a marketing campaign for technology companies in the B2B and B2C domains. I would say that the difference primarily would lie in terms of the audiences and how you communicate with them. B2B marketing and lead generation campaigns focus on building strong client relationships that drive long-term business.

Since the decision-making cycle in B2B is longer, you have to move the customer along the buyer journey, from the top of the funnel and awareness stages through to the buying decision stages, based on a highly integrated and lead generation based marketing funnel. So, the relationship-building in B2B marketing, especially during the buying cycle, is crucial and in overall terms, is also more personalised.

The marketing campaigns for the B2C audience in comparison are broader and are aimed at triggering the quick purchasing by customers. Of course, in both cases, you have to drive the purchase decision basis the value of your product or solution.

Q. Are the Indian consumers really ready for paying a premium fee for 5G services?

Indian consumers are quite interested in 5G and are willing to pay a premium for the new 5G capabilities. According to an Ericsson ConsumerLab study, at least 40 million smartphone users in India could adopt 5G in the first year of its availability, with consumers willing to pay 50 per cent more for 5G plans with bundled digital services, compared to just 10 per cent premium for 5G connectivity. Further, the Ericsson Mobility Report reveals that 5G will represent around 39% of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2027, estimated at about 500 million subscriptions.

Q. 5G networks are opening up a much larger market for new gaming services such as multiplayer mobile gaming tournaments. How is Ericsson working towards the gaming community?

With the increasing adoption of smartphones, the cloud gaming platforms that can host live multiplayer games have enormous potential. Telecom operators are at the center to create new revenue streams through cloud-based mobile gaming. As per the Ericsson Mobility Report, the gaming industry generated revenues of around USD 175.8 billion in 2021 globally, with a CAGR of 8.7 per cent.

With over 2.6 billion players worldwide, mobile gaming has become the most popular form of gaming. The advent of 5G networks and cloud gaming services on smartphones and tablets will lead to new opportunities for innovation and expansion of the gaming market based on the high speed and reliability features of 5G.

In fact, cloud gaming is an important 5G use case as globally 5G ready users are already spending more time on video content and multiplayer mobile gaming, spending 1.5 hours more per week on enhanced video (4K, 360-degree, live streaming) and 1 hour more per week on playing multiplayer online games as compared to 4G users.

In 2019, Ericsson successfully supported the finals of the first live mobile gaming tournament on Vodafone Italy’s 5G network.

Q. What kind of a media mix do you follow to market your brand better? How much does a digital account in it? What have been some of your recent marketing initiatives?

We strongly believe in the power of compelling storytelling and have been running various campaigns both in print and digital media. With today’s consumers armed with smartphones and mobile internet access, the future of media in India is digital and all our campaigns are heavily digital media focussed.

Our most recent marketing campaign themed #ImaginePossible focused on the new possibilities that 5G will open up for consumers thereby making the unimaginable, possible. This initiative is a part of the larger brand refresh under which Ericsson’s new vision and purpose were launched last year. Ericsson’s new vision is creating a world where limitless connectivity improves lives, redefines business and pioneers a sustainable future. The company’s purpose is to create connections that make the unimaginable possible, which also speaks to the ongoing #ImaginePossible initiative.

Last year, we collaborated with a key technology influencer to create a digital thought leadership series called 'Powering India's tomorrow'. The series explores how connectivity is set to evolve and discusses the future of telecommunication as well as throws a spotlight on how it can truly enable a digital India. The social campaign around this series saw one of the highest tractions on Ericsson’s Twitter with more than 3.6 million video views. As in 2021, this year too, our marketing campaigns will be focused on digital channels.

Q. What are some of the marketing priorities that technology companies must consider? How is the emergence of 5G expected to influence the marketing strategies of the tech giants?

As the digital landscape advances, businesses are also bound to adopt new ways to communicate with their customers. With deep internet penetration and technological developments, it's not surprising that digital marketers are making the most effective use of emerging and immersive technologies. As per a report by Deloitte ‘5G: The Catalyst to Digital Revolution in India’, India’s digital economy is estimated to touch USD 1 trillion by 2025 through increased smartphone adoption, rapid internet penetration, and the acceleration of mobile broadband and data connection. 5G is envisaged to be the key catalyst fuelling this growth.

I believe the future of advertising is immersive. I expect that the advertising industry will adopt 5G to power new types of immersive ad experiences with technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (VR). Advertisers will thus focus on providing more creative experiences and leverage various ad formats to be highly engaging based on the high speed and low latency features of 5G. 5G will be invaluable in this era as it is a platform of innovation. For instance, brands can use VR to show 360 degrees views of a product from the convenience of your phone or even launch products or conduct concerts through celebrity holograms and much more. The sky is the limit.

Furthermore, in the coming years with 5G, faster speeds will not only improve the processing ability of handsets but will also enable a richer user experience and completely revolutionise content accessible to an average Indian user. The ongoing democratisation of entertainment through gaming, OTT video platforms, and short video/content consumption applications will see a rapid surge and eventually own consumers’ time spent on devices, especially mobile. Marketers will need to be mindful of the shift when they are planning and designing media mix in future.