Kerala’s biggest cellphone market is at sea

So much so that more than five out of every 100 customers of BPL Mobile in Kerala are now fishermen, many of whom never used even a land phone ever. Escotel, its rival, says it is netting its share too.

“About 5,000 out of our 75,000 customers are fishermen, and we estimate a potential of another 10,000 in two years’ time,” says BPL’s sales head in Kerala, K.A. Mohammed Saleem. Escotel’s Regional Manager Ramesh Babu agrees that the scope in this segment is truly vast.

“If you set off from Beypore, you can negotiate with agents in Vatakara, Thalassery or elsewhere from the sea itself, fix the deal, and divert your catch there directly. If you have, say, even 500 kg of seer fish and the price difference per kilo between Vatakara and Thalassery is Rs 10, it more than makes up for the fuel costs and cellphone charges. You can also ask the agent to send his boat to the sea and take away the catch from your boat, while you continue fishing,” says Mohammed Koya, a fishing boat owner who has supplied the gadget to the crew on his two boats and two canoes.

Since the cellphone range in the sea extends to about 25 kilometres, the fishermen are able to decide on their port of call early on, without having to make fuel-guzzling detours and diversions, according to him.

The only hitch, for the cellphone companies, is that the fishing off-season every year means unpaid bills. “Several of them go for pre-paid SIM cards. But those who don’t sometimes run up arrears,” says an official.

So the companies are now actively wooing fish cooperatives. The idea is that the cooperatives could procure the cellphones and supply to the fishermen, undertaking to settle the bills itself. This has begun drawing results. BPL has struck a deal with a fishermen’s cooperative in Kannur, while Escotel has roped in another at Munambam. Many more are on the way, according to the two companies.

Both are now negotiating with Matsyafed for their shares of the pie, attempting to get the Government agency to include cellphones among the gadgets eligible for soft loans for fishermen, and also to procure some form of bill-settling undertaking from it.

Next on their list are the lorry as well as taxi operators. “We are negotiating with them, and several of their associations and unions have been very keen. We are developing tailor-made packages, like those facilitating free incoming calls on the cellphone. This segment is even bigger than the fisherfolk,” an official said.

Cellphone customers come in other shapes too. From salesmen (consumerist Kerala has a sizeable army of them) to marriage brokers and even the political hit squads of Kannur who had put the gadget to good use, it is a truly big range out there, waiting for the beep.