At a time when operators are fretting over the cannibalisation of over-the-top (OTT) applications such as WhatsApp and Skype, here is an app that pays a telecom player for every single call made. The App – nanu – can be used to make free calls to any mobile or landline in any country.

The app, which has a tie-up with the country’s largest operator Bharti Airtel, pays inter-connect user charges (deferring from operator to operator) for every call terminated on the latter’s network.

“The problem is that OTT companies, because they don’t have a credible revenue stream, cannot pay the telcos. They are basically stealing from operators. We are voluntarily willing to pay for calls transmitted over their networks, even though we don’t have to,” Martin Nygate, founder and Chief Executive Officer at nanu, told BusinessLine .

“We make money from advertisements so that we can pay the telcos. We also pay for calls not terminated, voluntarily, because we generate revenues for every single call,” he added.

The calls on nanu are initiated and terminated as cellular calls, even though it mainly uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to carry the calls.

Nanu is a product of Singapore-based VoIP start-up Gentay Communications, while majority of its users are expat Indians across the world.

The present termination charges in India, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) norms that came into effect from March 1, 2015, was zero paise for for wireline-to-wireless and 14 paise for wireless-to-wireless calls.

How it works

When a user makes a call, an advertisement is played as a ringtone, which is not audible to the receiver. The App has technologies that allow it to insert a ringtone or an advertisement before the receiver answers the call.

It is already running campaigns for firms such as Oxigen, Big Bazaar, Lenskart.com and HTC, among others.

The already bleeding telecom operators fear further loss of revenues as OTT apps such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat, WhatsApp, Hike and Viber offer free messaging, voice and video services. These apps need a data service and ride on an operator’s network.

nanu, which has users across 211 countries and records the largest number of users from Saudi Arabia, opened its office in India in November 2015. As of date, the company has about 2 million users in India, and is growing at a pace of about 15,000-20,000 users every day.

In the country, the app gets majority of its users from rural areas, or “in other words, people who can’t afford to pay their mobile bills”. The company, which uses 2G networks, claims to offer 3G-quality voice services.

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