With new revenue stream generated, the MVAS sector is set to touch Rs, 48,000 crore by 2015, cited some of the leading telecom operators and technology organisations congregated today at 9th VAS INDIA 2011.
The conference kick-started with the launch of the VAS portal ‘Insight VAS’ and was inaugurated by Mr. Prashant Gokarn, Head of 3G, Reliance Communciations.
Sharing their perspective on the MVAS landscape in 3G enabled India, the keynote speakers brought to light some of the issues and opportunities hidden in this game.“After 3 years, 3G is finally here. And it couldn’t have come at a better time than this.
While other countries experimented and expanded with time, India already has a base of 10-15%. Thus, its going to grow here faster than any other place. What will however drive the market are non messaging services, primarily video and multimedia services. Operators need to strategically decide where to invest and what their business approach should be. There is huge range of applications available and only the unique applications can be charged at a premium. Analytics will help convert data into useful information and foster faster decisions. In a nutshell, the potential is large and we have large areas to work on.”
Commenting on the advertising perspective in MVAS Industry, Mr. Shashi Sinha CEO Loadestar said, “With the advent of 3G, advertising potential is big. But the trick is to personalise the content that is being dished out. More competition is sure to drive down prices but the need of the hour is not to be restrictive but have an aggregate. Advertising and content is surely set to integrate from 3 to 5 years from now.”
Mr. Kunal Bajaj, Managing Director, Analysys Mason went on to add, “There are three focus areas, which are enhancing user experience, launch of new services and service building wherein operators can provided end to end solutions for the consumers. Slowly but steadily, operators will have to overcome pricing issues and work towards network optimization.”
Mr. NK Yadav, Principal General Manager – VAS, BSNL further cited, “The switch over from 2G and 3G needs to be taken care of. The customer experience cannot be spoilt on any cost. BSNL has been an early starter and the pick up is just getting better and better. While last year we had 1 million customers, today the figures are around 2.5 million subscribers. Data usage has increased 6 times and addition of post paid customers have increased since 3G. Broadly, the focus can be targeted at two categories, one being the network related issue and the other being handset related issues. From the consumer side, the active users are currently only 10%. With more awareness and consumer education, the usage will significantly grow.”
Lastly, Shri TR Dua, Principal Advisor, Cellular Operators Association of India emphasised, “Telecom industry has grown at a time of global economic slowdown. This hints at unbounded success for the sector. Further with inclusive growth, differentiation and delivering customer demand and government mandating, there is a huge gap that is waiting to be filled by operators and service providers. There are some emerging categories like M-Agriculture, M-governance, M-Law and E-Judiciary which will help the common man in cities and rural areas.”
