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Voice based VAS is slowly picking up steam in India as Indian operators are realizing the potential of this medium. This is especially true for the Indian operators who are looking at rural India as their next destination.

With mobile subscribers' growth now coming predominantly from non-metros and rural regions, voice based services in multiple languages have become all the more important. Voice based VAS forms a significant chunk of mobile VAS revenues in India. This trend is prevalent now and is expected to continue to stay longer in India due to the existence of low literacy rates and non-tech-savvy people, who will find it far more easier and convenient to use.

Realizing the need and demand of the market, VAS players and telecom operators are making all possible efforts to bring more and more unique and innovative voice based applications for the Indian masses. Comviva, a Bharti group company, has entered the voice market with its new technology, Aggregated Voice Application Network (AVAN). It enables operators to deliver an unlimited portfolio of voice activated rich applications, and at the same time optimize the operator's existing network to realize major efficiencies in term of network utilization and operational resource.

This is achieved without any upfront investment, creating a sustainable competitive advantage for operators in rapidly expanding markets where subscribers demand voice enabled access to content. As the Indian mobile market enters a more mature stage, operators are seeking additional ways to generate revenues and reduce costs. AVAN enables operators to gain marketshare among all subscriber segments by providing a strong voice portfolio of services, improve their market and financial performance by reducing capex and opex investments and enhance operational efficiencies.

Comviva has already deployed AVAN for a leading international operator. It saves over 50% network capacity, with reduction in bandwidth and platform infrastructure as the application uses these resources on a shared basis. This plug-n-play approach to applications delivery enables applications running on AVAN to be launched faster.

AVAN abstracts the operators' core network and VAS element, presenting a generic layer to application developers. This is a path breaking aggregation system that will transform operators' ability to launch innovative and new voice applications quickly and cost effectively.

Increasing demand for effective communication among end users, demand for information to reach on real-time, and the ability to fulfill the information need and demand at the bottom of the pyramid and rural people will drive the adoption of AVAN in the Indian marketplace.

Arpita Prem
arpitap@cybermedia.co.in