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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

August - 2010 - issue > Cover Story

Roamware Ruling the Roaming Space

Christo Jacob
Monday, August 2, 2010
Christo Jacob
‘Action is eloquence’ and Bobby Srinivasan, President and CEO, Roamware is proving it just right by showcasing India not only capable of body shop business but also can be armed to build smart global product company. Srinivasan, who left India in 1985 to pursue higher studies, had always dreamt of building a world class product completely out of India that could transform lives of billions globally. It was this passion and sheer belief that helped him align his thoughts during the initial years of founding Roamware. The mantra worked well, with Roamware entrenched as the global leader in voice and data roaming solutions and a leading provider of mobile financial services. The company’s comprehensive suite of technologies and services helps operators globally to make mobile roaming better and easier.

Now Srinivasan has a reason to be pleased with roaming revenues forecasted to grow to $146 billion by 2011 . Founded in 2001, currently Roamware’s products are deployed in over 464 mobile operator networks across 154 countries and its services available to over three billion mobile users globally. Additionally, Roamware’s mobile finance solutions have been successfully deployed by major banks and operators around the world, and serves a wide range of needs across the domains of mobile commerce, banking, remittances and payments. “For nearly a decade, we have successfully nurtured and grown this business —- despite the challenges of global sales, delivery and support across diverse markets, e global events including wars, global pandemics like SARS and the financial meltdown in 2008-2009,” says Srin.

He could achieve this only because he envisioned the business to be global in nature at its inception. Srinivasan ensured that the senior management always had the appropriate DNA required to challenge the Roamware team in building world class products. This philosophy of the company has cracked the so called misconception of building your initial business within 10 miles from where one lives. With his chin up, Srinivasan proudly says “Today we are operating across 154 countries, serving over 460 mobile operator networks around the world.”

Bee in the Bonnet

No matter where the customers are located, mobile operators need to drive down the costs associated with their businesses. Current roaming trends have resulted in decreasing revenues, declining margins and fierce operator competition. Moreover today telecom operators could lose up to 10 percent of roaming revenues because of quality issues. According to a recent industry report, an average of 39 percent of all mobile calls falls below the industry minimum standard for voice quality. Given that roamers represent a profitable customer segment, the implications of poor quality of service include lost roaming revenues and potential churn. New regulations, roaming price reductions, stiff competition and a sharp rise in data roaming traffic are some of the key drivers forcing operators to search for innovative business solutions to increase traffic, drive usage, optimize costs, and meet their goals. “Roamware’s strategy from the inception has been to play the role of the preferred strategic partner on the roaming business front for mobile operators globally and this philosophy has been the fundamental reason for the success and widespread adoption of our solutions in the world market,” says Abraham Punnoose, VP – Global Marketing and Business Development ,Roamware .


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