Airtel will be piloting a SIM based application called eCogNito, developed by XIUS-bcgi. The release quotes Pallab Mitra, Head, m-Commerce, stating they currently have 2,60,000 customers signed up. eCogNito is being pithced as a smart card replacement that will improve ease-of-use. The application itself is network agnostic and SIM based. It also features printed electronics technology titled Active Poster (AP). AP is essentially a through-the-glass terminal service that can be mounted on a retail shop with a glass front, converting it into a 24x7 storefront.

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As per the site, the application is compatible with ‘millions of existing handsets’ and can be used to perform cash-less transactions for prepaid recharge, electronic bill payment, ticketing and for digital content. The handset has to be pointed at ‘target icons’ on the APs. Reminds me of the barcode reader’s that come pre-installed on Nokia (NYSE: NOK) handsets as well as the other hundred few existing in the space. Bar-codes (Active Posters in this case) can be used for driving user activities, imagine hyper-linking real-life products or having interactive coupons (or direct a call-to-action to relevant sites in a cornershop). An important component is having high peneteration of the barcode reader. Considering this is a pilot with the largest GSM provider in the country, it does have the opportunity to ride on the Airtel slice of 8 million additions per month. Besides, being a platform, it can integrate into existing value systems including but not limited to payment gateways, retail chains and ticketing amongst others. (See here)

This is the second known time Airtel has gone outside core business to leverage it’s network reach to drive new services. Do note, the service aren’t operator billed, makes sense considering 92.3% of subs as of Airtel’s last quarter were pre-paid. As stated previously, off-take of such services has been limited due to the peneteration of scanners/readers. It remains to be seen if Airtel can pull of a mobile point-of-purchase terminal business on the back of its subscriber base.