Management World India, held in Delhi on 02-03 April proved to be a very interesting and enlightening event, showcasing the innovative business models being implemented by some of the largest and fastest growing Operators in the world. The almost 300 professionals in the audience comprised a quality mix of Service Providers and local and international vendors, the majority of whom being members and some who came to learn and become new TMF converts. The participants were highly engaged, inquisitive and interactive and the presenters had the opportunity not only to impart their experience but to learn from some of the local challenges in the region.

The presentations that generated the highest degree of interest came from the CIOs of Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel, two of the leading service providers in the region, where each CIO presented their approach to convergence and managing explosive growth (currently Indian Operators are adding ~10 million new Customers a month!!). Although their business operational model and information systems approach is very different, they both are able to meet the growth and variety of services demands – convergence based - while from very low ARPU creating operating margins that many Operators would be envious of. This approach to the market and business operational models (the way they structure and run there IS and networks) is something that Operators in other geographies should seriously consider as possible models for transformation moving forward.

The marketplace still has substantial room to grow with a penetration of only ~30% of the populace and a regulator who is embracing a rapid expansion in the number of new licensees. There is also a high degree of social awareness in the Government’ drive towards 500m Customers being served by 2010 and a target for “all” Indians being provided communications AND internet access. This is resulting in new business models being considered (e.g. VNO) and a greater openness to partnership and investment from foreign companies (with the government now supporting up to 74% foreign ownership).

TMF and its various programs is seen as important tool in enabling many of the objectives to be met and we look forward to the increased participation in TMF from executives from these Operators to bring new ideas and approaches into our organization.

As we look back on a successful event, I feel confident that our Management World India event has set the TM Forum up for an interesting and bright future in this exploding region.

I hope to see you at a TM Forum Management World event soon!

Colin Orviss
Vice Chairman
TM Forum