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How Mobile VAS Shall Shape-Up

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PCQ Bureau
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Pankaj Agarwal, Founder and Chief Strategist, Triotech Solutions

The word commodities in the telecom space (sobriquet for devices) has started gaining importance. Steve Jobs revolutionized the market with a focus on aesthetics and end-user experience. This put the glamor quotient within commodities on a fast track, giving the development community a second life. Suddenly, there was renewed focus on end users, with all technology discussions invariably leading to simplicity, features, and applications.

What sold in VAS is getting outdated

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In the VAS world, it's a common notion that only those things sell that start with A (Astrology), B (Bollywood) or C (Cricket). Therefore, the whole VAS industry has been revolving around this to earn quick bucks. Plus, it obviously also has more glamor as compared to the infrastructure industry. However, there's not much left for innovation in this space. After all, one can only listen to “Sholay” dialogues so many times or look at his daily fortune once a day, etc. Nevertheless, VAS players continue to chase this space, making it over-crowded.

Mobile VAS will discover new markets

Entertainment is an essential part of life, but has only been accessible so far to people who can afford the 1st , 2nd and 3rd screens (Computer, TV, and Cinema). Mobile VAS has been able to bridge this gap by leveraging the 4th screen (mobile phones), whose reach has gone far beyond that of the first three screens.

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Leveraging this screen has also seen its own share of challenges, like the strict implementation of the “Do Not Disturb” registry, where the regulator made it very difficult for the VAS industry to address the population that can speak and write. Most of that population chose not to be disturbed, leaving the VAS operators in a lurch. The only option left therefore was to make the “only screen” more meaningful for our target group.

Mobile VAS to 'enable' the differently-abled

Since the start of the language, humans have been speaking and writing, and hence these are the only two killer applications for communication--called voice telephony and SMS. Hence the applications that would enable the speech of the ones that do not speak or write, would be a winner. There is a huge population of mobile users that do not have access to offers and work by the various stakeholders of the society and the government, are in a way deaf-mute. The applications can play a major role in giving these people their speech and writing. Health and education are two areas that need a lot of hand-holding for the ones that do not have the means to speak or write. The applications and content has to focus on this area to bring in Value in the Added Services of Mobile Telephony.

Mobi le VAS developers to get more revenue

Advent of most open systems, be it Linux or Google's Android or any other system, should lead us to move away from the clutches of telcos. The reason they have been able to demand the revenue in their favor, is because of the need for billing. The penetration of the non-cash paying instruments (credit cards) for paying small amounts is almost non existent in India, specifically for the payments of 1 rupee to 20 rupees, that is needed to purchase the applications and content. Hence we have limited options to reach out to this user and depend upon telcos to provide us the billing in form of the prepaid instant payment or post paid billing. The success of Apple iTunes, Nokia Ovi and Andriod stores and many others coming up on a daily basis has been possible as a result of completely bypassing telcos in revenue sharing. This is also a winning proposition for consumers, because the same services can be provided to them for less. The future of mVAS industry is dependent on a direct relationship between the user and the provider. The role of the telco gets redefined in this relationship and they become enablers rather than being controllers.

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