CPaaS, Twilio, Blockchain and Tanla - Part 5

Abraham George Essay Series

---

Breezy Briefings is pleased to present a brand new essay series by Abraham George titled CPaaS, Twilio, Blockchain and Tanla. Special thanks to Amit Mishra and Maneesh Jain for fact-checking and special inputs. Subscribe using the button above or Telegram to receive the latest updates as soon as it is published. This is Part 5 - if you missed the previous parts, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

---

What Tanla has achieved in the last five years - be it growth, sales, revenues or profits, is in the public domain for everyone to see for themselves. But, I wish to highlight two of its crowning achievements for Breezy Briefings’ readers.

In 2018, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) sent an open invitation to many IT solution providers to come up with a solution for pesky calls, spam and fraudulent messages. For context, TRAI introduced the TCCCPR regulation following which the telecom industry players (see government-owned telecom BSNL’s note) were scrambling to find a solution. Tanla came up with a blockchain-powered solution called Trubloq which was accepted by TRAI. From Sep 01, 2020, DLT platforms have been deployed by all telcos in India, as per the TRAI mandate. Tanla’s Trubloq handles 63% of the 35 billion monthly A2P SMS traffic. This adds about Rs 90 to 100 million revenue monthly to Tanla. A business was born out of nowhere when Tanla capitalized on this opportunity in record time and now it has turned into the world’s largest blockchain use case. 

The same is being deployed in the UAE via the two main telecom providers Etisalat and Du but due to some bureaucratic reasons, it is being delayed. But it will happen soon as everything is tested and ready to go. A successful implementation will also serve as a springboard for other countries in the region who all will require the same service. Meanwhile, the Tanla team in UAE is growing their other businesses, hands over fist. 

Secondly, we all know about the ongoing vaccination drive that India is grappling with. With around 1.4 billion people, it is no easy walk in the park. It requires a lot of planning, infrastructure, logistics, financing and dexterous execution. Again, Tanla came to assist the government in facilitating a smooth communication line. Tanla platforms developed a blockchain-based CPaaS to disseminate information efficiently. Without any noise, Tanla was the link between Cowin, India’s national vaccination portal, and the vaccine recipient. The government’s official website allows easy navigation to find vaccination centers and shows vaccine availability. It provides a transparent accounting of the vaccination drive’s statistics. 

Mind you, this was not implemented in Bhutan or the Vatican. It was fulfilled in the second-most populated country in the world with all sorts of logistical challenges and administrative hassles that you cannot even fathom. A senior minister even remarked that Cowin can be customized and scaled up for global rollout. 

When you book a vaccination slot, you immediately receive a text message confirming your appointment. Then, once your dose has been administered, you’d receive another text message with the link to your vaccination certificate. This drive has been the largest of its kind in terms of scale to date in India. Tanla Platforms was very instrumental in stepping up to this enormous challenge. I need to highlight Tanla’s (via Karix) relationship with National Informatics Bureau (NIC) which is responsible for the government’s digital initiatives. Cowin falls under the National Health Portal. At the height of the drive, the government had to constantly adapt to its dynamic demand where Tanla was able to process peak loads of up to 30,000 transactions per second. Please spare a moment to visualize and digest that. TRAI and the government have clearly understood and appreciated the power of blockchain.

DISCLAIMER

So, there we go. Thanks for reading Breezy Briefings. If you enjoyed this, I'd really appreciate if you could take a second and tell a friend. Honestly. It makes such a big difference.

Forward this email. Recommend the newsletter. Share on Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, LinkedIn, Slack, wherever!

Join Breezy Briefings’ Official Telegram Channel: https://t.me/BreezyBriefings

Abraham George is a seasoned investment manager with more than 40 years of experience in trading & investment and multi-billion dollar portfolio management spanning diverse environments like banks (HSBC, ADCB), sovereign wealth fund (ADIA), a royal family office and a hedge fund. Currently, he is setting up a hedge fund where foreign citizens can invest in Indian growth stocks like Tanla operating in hyper-growth markets like CPaaS.