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Thursday, May 19, 2011

The 'New' Internet & Mobile Association of India website

Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)

I have been using this website for few years because they have good reports on Internet usage in India. Till few days back, I could download a report without any hassle.

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to see their revamped website but more so when the website asked me to login. Filling a long form, I registered, but then to my dismay, I saw this line on the "Reports" page -

"All the reports which are more than 15 days old are available on nominal payment as mentioned against each report."

With a small hiccup, I decided to click on the report "Digital Commerce: March 2011". The next page advised me - "To download file Pay Rs. 2206.00!!"

Wow, I could not believe this. AFAIK, these reports are sponsored reports and have been available for free for the last few years. I absolutely hated this. I tried to download a 2010 report titled "Mafoi Survey" and even that report was priced at Rs 2206! A 2008 "I Cube report" was also available at the same price.

I really don't understand this. First of all, is the new IAMAI website only for corporates who can pay this 'nominal' amount? Why was a nominal fee put in place? If I am a student doing a research in this space, how is this 'nominal price' going to help me? Why are all the reports available for this magic price of Rs 2206? Why is their no decay in price for old reports?

My suggestion is that the reports should be priced for corporates. For individuals, it should be free.

The website still has some errors on the homepage, some UI and some javascript errors, loads slow and looks a beta website. But I am willing to overlook, if I get access to the reports for free.

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