OMH offers great benefits to all the main players in the CDMA ecosystem--the consumer, the OEMs for the handsets and the operators.
"OMH has increased the choice of devices for the consumers with ease of access using OMH SIM cards. You can have great multimedia experience and leverage the Internet services on high-speed data networks of CDMA operators," says Vrajesh Shelat, head of wireless data business, Reliance Communications. It gives you the flexibility to chose the handset and has increased the touch points through retail distribution.
As OMH offers operator-independent handsets and services across the globe, there is an increase in device volume. "Earlier, there were lack of multimedia handsets and mid-range (2.5k to 9k) handsets in the CDMA space.
Larger device volumes across the geographies will play a vital role in lowering the handset prices," shares Deval Parikh, chief officer of handsets, VAS and procurement, Virgin Mobile India.
Jain, talking about his experience says, "OMH is one of the most exciting things for handset manufacturers. It has reduced the inventory risk, as one handset can be sold by many operators/distribution channels. With OMH, we can have retail presence rather than operator distributing the handsets."
OMH eliminates the operator specific testing. "For every operator, the OEM had to perform a device test on their network. As the handset becomes independent of the operator, it eliminates the testing related to the operator and increases time to market," says Jain.
One of the major benefits of OMH for the operators is that it lowers handset inventory cost. It creates open distribution channels and simplifies the supply chain management. "Operators need not have to worry about the inventory of the CDMA handsets," shares Parikh.
OMH also reduces the testing cost of the device at operators' end and the customer support.
