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Telecom industry is going through a revolution. The number of mobile users is increasing exponentially and the way mobile phones are being used is also changing. From being just a phone, which gave freedom of being connected, 24x7, it has become a camera, gaming pad, an iPod and now even a television. The various applications of mobile phones have been increasing with the advent of new technologies. From downloading ring tones to watching a movie, mobile user's expectations from the service providers and the vendors is increasing day by day.

In a competitive market such as India where about six mobile operators are providing services in one region, there is pressure on pricing. With voice market becoming saturated and burst in demand for value added services has given service providers and content developers an opportunity to hit the proverbial pot of gold. The value added services market is expected to grow to around Rs 3,500 crore by 2010. The revenue from the VAS segment is growing more than 30-40% a year. Value-added services such as messaging, mobile-commerce, location services, and mobile entertainment are the moneymakers in today's telecommunications market.

The Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) telecom services market was worth slightly over $160 bn in 2005 and is projected to exceed $170 bn in 2006, a growth rate of 7%. The figures alone show that there is a genuine demand of VAS and with the advent of 3G, value added services (VAS) would be a key differentiator for operators to retain customers. Therefore service and content providers need to come up with innovative ideas and marketing strategies for customer retention and satisfaction. The key to tapping the mass market lies in offering the customer a slew of value added services.

	EXPERTS PANEL
	Anand Virani, senior manager (Marketing and Product Management), Tata Teleservices Samir Bangra, senior vice president (Corporate and Business Development), India Games

Location based services
Location based services opened new avenues for service providers for provisioning of innovative and lucrative value added services to the subscribers. In simple words-location based services is the catchword today in the mobile, geo-spatial, travel, government, marketing and Internet industries.

These services have a major impact on how users navigate the world and how business will be conducted. Location based services employ new mobile location technology with the spatial database and geo information system technologies. This seamless integration of technologies has led to new ways and means of using spatial technology to provide relevant information at times when it's most needed.

Juniper Research has estimated that the total available market for location based services, would grow from under $1bn at the end of the current year to over $8.5 bn by the end of 2010. The largest geographic market will be Asia Pacific. Usage of location based services is expected to be very popular on third generation (3G) networks. As location based services fulfill a dual function by constantly filtering and finding information most relevant to users, the service providers need to recognize its potential for an individual customer as well as the enterprise user such as the travel industry, in particular, should embrace the vast potential of these location based services. Location based information services of one sort or another can be offered by any wireless location technology, from cell ID to A-GPS.

The application areas for location based services extending from personal messaging, location based traffic and weather alerts, emergency medical services for road accidents and disasters, to providing competitive sales information to field sales professionals. These services deliver geographic information between mobile and static users via the wireless network. Location based applications and services, like Web mapping, street routing and electronic yellow pages services through mobile devices helps service agents, marketers, planners, analysts, and managers detect patterns and trends in the data that may otherwise have been missed.

In the days to come, LBS will benefit both the consumers and service providers. They will give consumers greater personal safety, personalized features and increased communication convenience. On the other hand network operators will be able to target discrete market segments based on the different service portfolios. It's a win-win situation, which one should not ignore.

Mobile Music
Mobile music market has predominantly been ring tone based. It is estimated that 20-25% of mobile subscribers pay to download ring tones and ring back tones alone. Market for mobile music downloads is now approximately above Rs 160 crores. Music downloads is another service which offers revenue generation opportunities for service providers. Five million music downloads to mobile phones are said to be sold every day in Japan. Out of this 99.8% of music downloads are expected to be to mobile phones and 0.2% are to PCs and portable MP3 players.  With Indian mobile subscriber base booming, it also offers ample opportunity for the industry players to tap this market. Advancements in mobile device technology has enabled rapid evolution of mobile music

In India a number of music companies are collaborating with the service providers to provide content.  With the advent of 3G mobile, download speeds have increased tremendously, which has allowed a wide range of new music products such as full track downloads to be offered to subscribers. In fact, the annual number of full track downloads worldwide is expected to reach the one billion mark by 2008. With 35-40% of non-voice revenues generated by music, the cellular operators need to beef up their networks in response to this growing demand. Mobile handsets, which can double up, as juke boxes have also hit the market and this further reiterates the need of quick innovative services for the mobile music market.

Buying full songs online using a handset is still a long way off in India because of slow GPRS speeds. There is an ample of opportunity in the exploitation of live content via handsets, song recognition services, digital audio broadcasting (DAB), visual radio etc. These are the avenues just waiting to be explored.

Mobile Gaming
The global mobile gaming business is pegged at $2.2 bn, with India contributing only $100 mn to the overall pie. According to Nasscom, this market could well touch $500 mn in exports alone by 2010. Next generation of cell phones with enhanced graphical, sound and data capabilities have made mobile gaming the next big thing for the Indian gaming scenario. Mobile games are a major source of revenue for the telecom industry and the potential is still growing. The burgeoning subscriber base in mobile telephony will lead to the rapid growth of this segment. The spending habits of the customers and the willingness of the mobile users to spend more depicts that revenue generation can be optimized further in the mobile gaming arena.

Mobile gamers are the potential key drivers for the mobile industry as they lead to higher minute usage and bigger bills. What needs to be developed is an efficient service delivery model. Mobile gamers generally prefer purchasing individual games to subscription model. And many find multiplayer gaming very exciting. Though the current gamers prefer high-quality engaging games, it is inexpensive casual games that are still the best way to introduce someone new to mobile gaming. Mobile users in the corporate sector are a potential market waiting to be tapped. It is found that the highest number of downloads happen during leisure time. Content providers have developed games based on office themes, which are bound to gain popularity.

The huge installed base of cell phones is the window of opportunity for the wireless entertainment sector. Millions of people all over the world are already using increasingly sophisticated phones and this shows the distinct advantage that mobiles have over any new console hitting the market.

Mobile users are ready to switch over to other wireless service providers to gain access to downloadable content, unlimited data (Internet) access, and the coolest mobile games. The very fact that mobile users are ready to take up whatever new and exciting hits the market, paints a rosy picture for the service providers. This market which has been dominated by either simple embedded or downloadable games for the past few years will continue to be the same in 2006. Multiplayer mobile online gaming is another avenue that offers ample scope for innovation and development.  

Audio/ Video Streaming
Playing downloaded, pre-recorded content is a regular feature in mobile phones. Another aspect called “streaming” allows immediate playback without downloading, and permits real-time viewing of live broadcasts. Downloading and storing audio video clips has a potential disadvantage of taking up memory space. Moreover a subscriber's preference of song and videos keep changing as and when new ones are launched in the market. Streaming video and audio content, is a better option for viewing longer clips because data isn't stored on the phone. A user can also tune in to live video feeds with the help of streaming making it more popular among subscribers.

Subscribers can search for and play video broadcasts that are streamed to their handsets in real time giving them an altogether new experience. Service providers can insert interstitial ads that can even be personalized for the subscribers. Live audio and video phenomenon has already caught the imagination worldwide and is a potential weapon of mass entertainment in the Indian arena. Platforms have been developed which will enable cell phone users to employ applications such as video mails, news broadcasts, movie clips, sound clips etc. High-speed wireless networks are on the rise, resulting in a drop in the price of mobile TV-enabled handsets and increase in the availability of mobile content. New broadcast networks are also expected to go together with the existing unicast networks and create new business models for live and on-demand video content.

Telecom operators are introducing new audiences to video and audio streaming but there are some challenges for the quality delivery of streaming media, which need to be addressed before providing it to the subscribers.

Mobile TV
The mobile TV market is still in its infancy and so far, there have been no companies with profitable commercial business in this segment. Over the years, mobile TV is expected to generate substantial revenues with users preferring services such as video. Some of the service providers have started offering near real-time television by video-streaming the live telecast of the news. There are different ways of doing this, such as DVBS (Digital Video Broadcast Satellite) and DVBT (Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial). According to IDC, mobile TV market is heating up, with both trials and deployments accelerating over the next 12-18 months.

Driving the mobile broadcast is the Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld or DVB-H. DVB-H is the new digital broadcast standard for the transmission of broadcast content to handheld terminal devices, developed by the international DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) Project. Based on the DVB-T standard for digital terrestrial television, it is tailored to the special requirements of the pocketsize class of receivers offering the possibility to receive broadcast services on portable devices and even in cars. The standard combines the traditional television broadcast standards with elements specific to handheld devices: mobility, smaller screens and antennas, indoor coverage, and reliance on battery power. 

HSDPA is another special version of 3G mobile phone services, offering data speed, which allows clients to watch television on mobile phones and is even faster than many fixed-line broadband connections. Viewers can watch home shopping programs on their wireless handset, receive real-time product information and instantly make a purchase via their phone. The technology bypasses mobile networks and broadcasts directly to handsets from TV masts. Thus the standard also benefits operators by preserving cellular network bandwidth for voice and other data services.
The latest innovation is the offer of full-length movies over wireless The service is offered in two forms - one is a lower bandwidth, lower-frame-rate service for CDMA customers and the other, a high-frame-rate, better quality stream for 3G customers.

Mobile operators will play an important role in offering broadcast services to consumers. With large existing customer bases they can expand billing mechanisms and customer care to include mobile TV. Offering billing and e-commerce systems to partners and making additional use of mast infrastructure for DVB-H repeaters/boosters can develop new revenue streams. The ability to offer unique program channels that provide opportunities for brand differentiation and provide interactivity via the network will enable impressive returns for the service providers. Mobile TV could be a new money-spinner, provided the technology works and the service is affordable. The service providers need to explore new ways to generate revenues beyond its cash-cow telephony business and this could be the answer. The market is open and the possibilities are immense, its up to the service providers to innovate and exploit.

Sonia Sharma
sonias@cybermedia.co.in