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Roman Scharf

Thomas K Thomas

Jajah, an Internet-based telephony service provider, hopes to do to the mobile sector what Google is doing to the World Wide Web. The US-based company recently launched services in India with a promise to bring about a paradigm change in the way people communicate. eWorld caught with Roman Scharf, co-founder of Jajah, to know what the company has in store for the future. Excerpts from the chat:

How significant is the India market for you?

Jajah recognises India as an important part of a growing global marketplace. We have a long-range plan to make global phone service free, around the world. While it’s not possible in India today, someday it will be. Jajah intends to be the first company to make it happen — in the meantime, we intend to build a business based on low price and high value.

Internet usage in India is rapidly increasing in and outside of the metro areas (according to online research and advisory firm JuxtConsult conducting ‘India Online 2007’ report.) We expect that consumers going online will naturally seek out low-cost IP-based telephony solutions such as Jajah.

The astounding growth of Web-accessible mobiles phones, in many cases the first means by which people are accessing the Internet, is in our favour. We see the phone replacing the PC in markets such as India and Jajah will power communications on all phones.

What are your plans for India?

To start with we are offering cheap telephony for the Indian consumers, who can take advantage of:

International calling at a rate as low as 7.3 USD cents/minute rate

The most innovative and cost-effective way to make a call to India — no headsets, downloads, contracts or numbers to remember. Just go to Jajah.com to place a call. Use your mobile phone on the go.

Community benefits — calls to other registered users are free and the more friends you refer, the greater the potential reward.

Where do you see the VoIP (Voice over Internet protocol) market headed?

VoIP represents the best way to bring low cost global calling to consumers. Our vision is to one day bring the cost of calling to zero. Using the Internet to help lower the cost is the best way to do it today. VoIP solutions continue to grow and capture more and more of the total telephony market. The price is attractive and in Jajah’s case we’ve been able to improve the quality so it sounds like a regular call. In the end, VoIP is all about delivering better solutions to end users.

What is your business model?

People use Jajah for a variety of reasons, but the main driver of our growth to date has been the value. Jajah is free in some parts of the world and it is the only VoIP solution to work directly from any smart phone. These things, combined with ‘click to call’ solutions, make Jajah interesting and attractive.

Do you think traditional phone companies should be worried?

On the contrary, telephone operators are happy to partner with us. Our business model ensures a win-win situation for all the parties involved. In all the markets where we have launched the services we are bringing additional revenue to existing operators. In India too, we are in talks with large operators for a possible alliance.

How do you differentiate yourself from competition?

On the basis of price primarily, Jajah is high value compared to traditional telecom companies. There is no plan to buy, no registration fees, no hidden costs and unlike other VoIP solutions, there is also no need for headphones or other special equipment.

Jajah’s rates are competitive with calling cards. When you consider the time and effort to buy a card and enter all the numbers to place a call, Jajah provides a better value.

Jajah is committed to free global telephony and is slashing rates to support a growing Indian community and rewarding the members for inviting friends to join. This is Jajah’s first effort in a long-range plan to make global phone service free, around the world.

tkt@thehindu.co.in

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