Value-added services: telecom's ringing

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: We are in the era of entertainment through mobile handsets. Downloading a ringtone, watching your favourite movie or tracking cricket scores-the list of activities that you can do using your cell phone is endless.

Network providers and lesser-known companies helping them provide these value-added services (VAS) are smiling. "The market for mobile value-added services is currently about Rs 380 crore, and it is expected to grow to around 3,500 crore by 2010," says Arun Gupta, COO, Mauj Telecom.

To supplement stagnant voice revenues cellular operators are now turning to VAS to boost revenue in both data and value-added voice services.

"Revenue from the VAS segment is growing at a rate of 30 to 40 % a year.

Saturated voice market

Analysts feel that the mobile industry is at a critical inflection point. In Europe and some Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, the mobile penetration levels are very high and stagnation is already setting in.

However, in markets like China, Africa and Asia (including India and several other markets), mobile use is fast paced. So we have two sections of the global market-one that is approaching stagnation and the other which has significant growth opportunity in the short term. In markets where there is stagnation, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is expected to remain consistent, and in some cases go up based on the introduction of new services such as 3G and EVDO (Evolution Data Only).

Assorted players

A lucrative market is bound to have players offering a range of services. Most of these companies offer entertainment (such as mobile gaming), though their strategies differ. Other services provided include premium roaming services.

Roamware, a player in mobile roaming solutions, is segmented across two business areas-roaming and local mobile services. This includes acceleration of roaming tie-ups, enhanced roaming services and managing quality of service in a roaming environment.

Given that annual roaming revenues globally exceed $50 billion, the market size is estimated to be at least $700 million in India," adds Punnoose.