Lyft has exited autonomous car space by selling its unit to Woven Planet, a Toyota subsidiary. Uber did the same thing by parting with its autonomous unit. Some startups in this area have merged with bigger companies. Still a lot more work is to be done for a number of years to make autonomous cars a reality. Several billion dollars additional funding is required. This could stretch to the end of this decade. Silicon Valley’s big tech companies have faced problems in perfecting the technology. One of the most hyped technologies, it attracted heavy investments. Still science is advancing with one better ride at a time. Google’s Waymo has already launched the world’s fully autonomous taxi service. It is by itself a major milestone.
Month: June 2021
Crackdown on Crypto Mining in China
There are a number of cryptocurrency miners in China which have halted their operstions after the government crackdown (May 2021). It is an effort to reduce the financial risks. The virtual currency mining is a sizeable business in China, and it is estimated that almost 70 per cent of the global crypto supply is mined in China.
Crypto miners use increasingly powerful computers or rigs to verify virtual coin transactions in a process which produces newly minted crypto currencies such as Bitcoin. Such mining consumes lot of energy. This violates China’s carbon neutrality goals. China also intends to curtail speculative crypto trading. Both Bitcoin and Ether fell down in value in China.
5G Market in India
Bharti Airtel has tied up with TCS to build 5G networks based on open radio access network (O-RAN) technology. Reliance Jio too is also running trial runs of its O-RAN in several Indian cities.
In the early days at the beginning of the millennium, the telecom networks relied on proprietary technology controlled by Ericcson, Nokia, Alcatel, Lucent and Motorola. A telecom company used to buy the whole block from one player — both hardware and software.
With the advent of 4G, the telecom operators wanted more freedom of choice and high processing servers. They wanted to tap different vendors. They moved from proprietary to open software and hardware. The new players were HP, Dell, Cisco for hardware and Red Hat and IBM for software.
However, the RAN market still remained exclusively with the big players, and it accounted for 70-80 per cent of the network’s capital cost.
The 5G market of gear-makers consist of four players only — Ericcson, Nokia, Samsung and Huawei. The Chinese company faces restrictions. Samsung is a small player. Thus there is a duopoly of two firms — Ericcson and Nokia.
The aim of the companies is to reduce the capital investment. Besides, spectrum cost is high in India and accounts for 50 per cent of network cost.
O-RAN is thus a favoured solution. O-RAN’s international Alliance has over 150 players. It is based on open software. Various blocks of the network have been disaggregated. Telcos can use their discretion to buy software and hardware from different vendors. Yes, this necessitates a system integrator to harmonise the different blocks.
As the market is competitive, the savings on this account alone could account for 40 per cent. It is easier for telcos to provide add-on services and provide faster updates. But as the operating costs are higher, the savings could be neutralised. O-RAN still is unproven on 5G. Rautken in Japan is the first standalone O-RAN network. And the jury is still out on that.
The three building blocks of O-RAN are the radio unit (to receive and transmit the frequency signals, amplify then and digitise them), and two base band units — the central unit and the distributed unit. Here the data is processed and sent to the network. The central unit is located near the radio unit and can also be hosted on the cloud.
Reliance Jio proposes to use Google Cloud. TCS sells a state-of-the-art O-RAN and the 5G core. Bharti has tied up with TCS. Reliance Jio has designed the core. CDOT too has done so and is seeking customers. PertSol too is also in the field. HFCL and Sterlite are designing a radio. Reliance Jio would like to outsource the manufacturing.
TCS will be a system integrator for Bharti Airtel. Tech Mahindra is a system integrator for Rautken. It is ready to tie up with Reliance Jio.
If the system works in India, it will work anywhere. India has thus an edge over others.
Roblox
Pop music success these days is attributed to TikTok, streaming services and a new platform called Roblox. Basically it is a game-creation engine where mini-games are played that are rooted in real life — actually they are roleplays. This platform generates its own music genre — robloxcore. The sound effects are frantic, chaotic and profane. It has created ripples in the musical circuit. Many young users may sneak in illicit music into the game or do things forbidden. Though filter has been fixed to avoid profanity, they have devised bypassing audio which allows to slip an audio file through the detection systems put in place to block offensive tracks and copyrighted tracks.
There is expletive-packed underground rap music. The Roblox audio makers are known for their devious bypassing methods. They are fond of aggressive rap. They organise themselves in secret groups and chats. They exchange furtive methods of sneaking songs. They are teenagers and young players. It has been put on firm footing in 2021. There are bypass TikTokers. It is kind of social reject music with amorphous sound.
Bitcoin’s Value and Risk Appetite
Bitcoin has seen spectacular surges and declines in its brief history. It has crashed and revived every few years. Much of this has to do with psychological factors. Bitcoin generates excitement as many treat it as an alternative to fiat currency. Some treat it as an asset like gold which holds its value, remaining immune to the actions of the governments. As we know, governments are loath to lose control over currencies. Bitcoin has recently reached its peak, and it will be a while before it revisits that peak. It is too premature to say that the bubble has burst. Whether or not it becomes an essential part of the modern financial system will depend on the number of users it commands, and the way bankers facilitate such a shift. Bitcoin keeps evolving, and is worth as much as people are ready to pay for it. It is a pegged to the risk appetite of the society.
NFTs
These are non-fungible tokens created on a blockchain. Non-fungible, since they are indivisible. And cannot be replaced by another such token. This makes them unique. They represent a computer code implanted within. It vests them with a unique identity. They can be purely digital assets or can represent physical assets in a digitised form.
The developers can add meta data or any traits to the NFTs. These can take the form of art, music and video.
These can be traded on a blockchain ledger which shows the current owner of the NFT. They act as digital collectibles.
Most of the NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. In the contract another feather can be incorporated to effect the sales and distribution. Thus it is a smart contract. It auto executes NFTs.
Radio
Radio advertising constituted 4 per cent of the total advertising revenue. However, over the last three years, the share slipped to 2 per cent. The revenue of radio advertising was Rs.3360 crore in 2018. Due to economic slow down, it came down to Rs.3100 crore in 2019. In 2020, the pandemic brought it to less than half — Rs.1430 crore (FICC-EY Report). In the developed countries, radio commands a share of 10 percent of the total revenues.
The radio is not taken seriously as it faces many alternatives. Earlier, it was used as a frequency builder.
Radio is best suited to evolve into a podcasting medium. As RJs are now celebrities, they can be used as brand endorsers or to create stickiness around a podcast.
Radio can expand its functions — it can provide solutions to clients, not necessarily rooted into radio. It can think of becoming event managers, do content production and do everything else to remain viable.
DeFi : Decentralised Finance
DeFi or decentralised finance is built upon blockchain networks and constitutes an eco-system of financial applications. DeFi eliminates intermediation of banks, brokers and other intermediaries. It uses programmes or computers to run certain projects. After adequate exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, institutions will get into DeFi and NFTs. Still the issue of trust remains as there is risk involved — contract to be trusted or coder they trust. Auditors and tech engineers are required who can bolster these smart contract codes.
There is increasing interest in this field which is attracting massive investments, crypto transfers and lending. DeFi was coined during an informal interaction among Ethereum developers in August 2018.
DeFi system is beyond borders. It is a parallel financial system that runs along with the traditional system.
These apps have codes which are open to scrutiny . A user can verify and track the protocols. They are able to locate their investment. It is an open source code — developers can build on the existing apps. It promotes innovations. A certain degree of control is exercised over the protocols by the teams that work on DeFi apps. If it is 100 per cent decentralised, it creates problems when there are issues.
These platforms do not require a bank account. Just access to crypto assets makes these platforms open. Anyone can transact. No particular company runs it. The foundation is the decentralised architecture.
Cryptocurrency transfers have been easier from one country to another — no need to convert from one currency to another.
National Public Radio : NPR
National Public Radio in the US completes 50 years in 2021. It is a radio channel which is neither government-sponsored nor private. It is not profit-oriented. It is in true sense a public broadcaster which is autonomous. It has been established under Public Broadcasting Act passed in 1967. It has been run by several thousand channels across the US. We cannot hear the channel here in India. The US has Voice of America as its international channel. As these days podcasts bring the programmes across the world on internet, even lovers of NPR can hear its good programmes anywhere in the world.
The channel is famous for its high-quality programmes. All Things Considered is a programme initiated on 3rd May, 1971. It is still very popular. Till then, the news-based programmes were anchored by male folks. Since 1972, for the first time, this responsibility was given to female folks. The programme is known for deeper analysis of current affairs and comprehensive reporting.
NPR accommodates different art forms and diverse subjects in its programming. Four-wheeler cars are the life line of the US. NPR’s CarTalk programme is very entertaining. It is a phone-in programme. NPR is also known for its worldwide reporting from the site of action. It exploited all the possibilities and potential of the audio medium.
To gain wider audience and consequently greater advertising revenue, NPR has never compromised. It is balanced, non-partisan. How it retains its autonomy? The member channels contributions and other contributions fund NPR. The member channels are not commercial. They are not under political pressure. And major chunk of contributions or donations are sourced from the listeners. The donations range from $25 to $50. Apart from this, NPR is funded by corporate trusts, but against such funding they cannot expect any editorial meddling. At the most, anchors briefly introduce a sponsoring company during the programme. The rich too individually contribute to NPR but they are committed to media autonomy. Covid affected NPR too, but in a positive way. Instead of drive-in-radio, while commuting to office, the work-from-staff availed of the NPR programmes through websites, podcasts and apps. It boosted the NPR audience by 10-15 per cent. In a week, NPR reaches 6 crore people through different avenues. The younger audience is increasing for audio programmes. Amongst the 20 most popular podcasts in the US, 7 are from the NPR.
In India too, we have a large radio-loving audience. What we lack is radio which is non-partisan, newsworthy and information-rich. Our love for radio has remained confined to listening to music. Aakashvani news is not preferred. Private radio channels are not allowed to broadcast news. We are neglecting a potential medium.
NPR is just an example. On its lines, every democratic country can aspire to have an autonomous radio channel. Our audience should realise that getting non-partisan news is their right.
Evolution of Ad Business
After liberalisation, the Indian agencies were taken over by the foreign investors or large networks in order to scale up. This way the legacy brand acquired receded into the background. Previously, the business thrived on the cult personality of the founder. They could not withstood the pressures of globalisation. As leadership changed, the agency brand also consequently changed. These days agencies tell brand stories by using a combination of AI, technology and analytics. Agencies thus change faster. Those which adapt to change, survive. Others simply fade away. International advertisers avail of the services of consultancies and big tech firms. Some outsource work to specialised digital firms. Some hire talent in-house. This trend could be seen in India too.
As it is, traditional agencies are being bypassed. It has led to an existential crisis. The growth of digital advertising in the last decade gives an idea of the evolution ad industry is going through.
In future, the focus would be on digital, social media and mobile marketing. There is going to be use of ad tech to convey the advertising message.
In 2021, the domestic ad market could grow by 23.2 per cent, and could touch Rs.80,126 crore, lower than Rs.82,905 crore in 2019 but ahead of 2020’s Rs.65,053 crore.
Digital spend would reach 35 percent in 2021, behind 45 per cent of TV, but ahead of print’s 16 per cent.