A to Z of Telecom VAS: Including and Beyond ABCD- The Indian Perspective

We have often heard the letters ABCD in the domain of telecom and telecom VAS. Their nomenclature also varies based on the different contexts.  This paper tries to enumerate the different contexts as well as goes beyond ABCD and tries to give an holistic view of the VAS domain from an Indian perspective with a simple order of clubbing almost all the salient intrinsic from A to Z.

Well by this time you must have figured out that the ABCD we are talking about here doesn’t mean American Born Confused Desis for sure.

Cellular penetration in India has reached almost saturation level in the metros and urban areas of the country, and there is little room for further growth in these areas. Logically the countryside is where the next phase of growth is coming from and will continue for a long time. These are small towns, villages, and rural areas with a sizeable portion of the population falling under the Bottom of the Pyramid, or low income marginal income population. This is called the ABCD market -the Ayah, Bai, Carpenter, Driver market. They are the ones who are spearing the next phase of growth in the mobile space and naturally VAS should be customized and personalized according to their profiles to achieve mass scale adoption.

Let us now explore the letters A to Z in an alphabetical manner to unearth the various catalysts of the evolving VAS scenario in India:

A: Astrology, AdRBT, AppStores

Astrology
With a market size of more than Rs 40,000 crores, the attraction of prediction is too tempting for operators as well as consumers. The fascination about future coupled with various other factors like match making, etc makes Astrology an integral component of the VAS offerings of many operators. Sub-applications like Horoscopes, Tarot numerology, palmistry, gemstones, soulmates, etc are all offered under the domain of Astrology.

AdRBT
Freebies are always welcome in the Indian market. The future of Ring Back Tone (RBT) is Ad-RBT (Advertisement RBT). This will create different business model by linking together enterprises with operators and enable penetration of RBT to the lowest level of the pyramid. People will get paid for listening to RBT and hosting RBT on their phones as companies will discover new and innovative methods of product/brand promotion and touch points.

AppStores
Future VAS applications will be Innovated, Incubated & Implemented out of
Stores on the lines of App Stores. These will facilitate an ecosystem towards creating an end to end VAS value chain. Various innovative and need based applications would be developed in a short span of time from such labs.

B: Bollywood, Browsing, Blogging

Bollywood
Indians are crazy about Bollywood and are ready to devour content in any means-right from wallpapers, ringtones, games to celebrity gossips and trivia, etc.

Browsing
Mobiles have already replaced computers as the preferred mode of browsing and have a far better reach than the costly PCs. While mobility during browsing attracts the urban people, in the rural areas they offer an economic alternative to the costly computers.

Blogging
With the emergence of micro-blogging sites like Twitter, Indians are happily and constantly blogging on the move. Life has become like twenty-twenty version of the cricket and blogging is also no longer unscathed by it. This makes blogging via mobile phones a way of life rather than a style for the new and modern breed of Indians.

C: Cricket, Content, Comminity

Cricket
We Indians eat live and sleep cricket. We worship cricketers as demi-Gods. Anything related to cricket, count us in. With the emergence of the shorter version of cricket T20 and IPL, revenues from cricket related VAS is a perennial source of income- as operators and franchisees not only make moolah during matches but also after and before the series leveraging merchandise sales, wallpapers, team anthems, etc.

Content
Content is King. The future model of content on mobile will evolve just like content on the web, which is mostly free. This will further warm up the battle for quality content. Applications without compelling and dynamic content will have a limited shelf life while those with engaging content will have a larger appeal.

Community
We always like to bond together in different communities and sub communities where according to our specific interests. VAS will also evolve to address the needs of particular communities based on their areas of relevance. For instance, followers of Baba Ram Dev would be enticed by a VAS application devoted to Yoga or Baba Ram Dev and can use the same to stay in touch with the latest happenings related to this front.

D: Devotion, Dating

Devotion
Indians are God-fearing religious people and we seek blessings in order to be successful in life. Spirituality is a way of our life. Various applications like slokas, muhurats, festivals, tithis are all examples of Devotional VAS.

Dating
With a sizeable chunk of the population in the age group of 15 to 30 years, coupled with the fact that youngsters are early adopters of mobile services, Mobile Dating will take center stage in the days to come. This may be clubbed together with Matrimonial on mobile phones as many people will be using mobile phones as the first source of information for finding their perfect match.

E: Education, Enterprise

Education
Exam results, Vocabulary for competitive exams, and Lessons via Mobiles will not only be embraced by rural India, but also urban students who are always on the move. Many operators have also come out with special packages on different modules and subjects like History, geography, etc. This will enhance the interest of the student community in the so-called insipid subjects and lease a fresh life in the delivery of knowledge.

Enterprise
Seamless connectivity and containing costs while enhancing productivity will drive adoption of various VAS applications among enterprises, specially Micro Small Medium Enterprises. Enterprises may also adopt an MVNO model and come forward for connecting with their stakeholders directly, thus creating a whole gamut of enterprise enabled VAS instead of the traditional Enterprise VAS. Just think about a mobile phone which whose different keypads are configured to address different enterprise needs of a consumer. For eg, when you press 1, you get all the services of a bank like ICICI, when you press 2, you can avail the services of an insurance company like LIC, when you press 3, you get the services of a HUL and so on. This can create a whole new disruptive ecosystem that can change the way enterprises offer VAS today.

F: Fun

Fun
People like to have Fun-on-the Go while waiting in queues, travelling, etc and what better means than the ubiquitous mobile phone with some compelling applications. Operators will gradually come to respect the impatience of youngsters and many such applications will be developed to remove the boredom of people, especially the impatience of youngsters.

G: Gaming, Gambling

Gaming
This is an evergreen field in the domain of VAS. Multiplayer, community based, location based games would be the future driver in this category.

Gambling
Gambling-both legal and illegal are already being played out on the mobile phones. Many tourism destination derive a lot of revenues from gambling This will only increase in the days to come. Various online lotteries can be easily provided on the mobile phones and this will increase frequency of purchase as it will enhance transparency and reduce time and effort to know the outcome.

H: Health, Handsets

Health
Telemedicine has got a shot in the arm, thanks to Mobile Based Health Advisory System. Wellness tips, Fast Aid tricks, BMI tracking, personal monitoring, etc are some of the possible services. Coupled with embedded capabilities, it’s a huge field waiting to be fully exploited.

Handsets
Capability of handsets is a major constraint in the delivery and access of VAS applications. Supporting voice and vernacular VAS is a real challenge, especially for the low-end handsets of the developing world. Operators have to take in cognizance the capability of handsets of the targeted market while developing any VAS application.

I: Infotainment

Infotainment
There is a huge market to be tapped seeking infotainment on the mobile device itself. Information coupled with an entertainment quotient held great value in the domain of VAS. This is especially true in the emerging rural markets where there is an intrinsic propensity to correlate information with entertainment needs.

J:Jokes

Jokes
This would not be a wrong assumption that 1 out of every 3 messages that we send to each other are Jokes. This is the single largest category of VAS in vogue today, even ahead of CRBTs by volumes, if not by revenues.

K: Knowledge

Knowledge
Man’s quest for knowledge is never ending. Via Mobile search engines- voice and text, a large community of consumers will explore the encyclopedia of knowledge available in the public domain.

L: Location Based Services, LIMI

Location Based Services
Location Based VAS such as nearest point of interest along with presence and context will be a niche application that will find acceptance among specific user groups. These will be available at a premium as compared to other VAS. Examples include buddy finder, child tracker.

LIMI (Low Income Marginal Income)
Both the rural and urban populations lying at the bottom of the pyramid will propel the next phase of mobile revolution. Volume and Margin will be competing against each other and new VAS business models will gradually evolve to address this sector.

M:Music, M-Commerce

Music
This is one area where rural India is ahead of its urban counterpart. Music on Mobile is the most popular VAS in rural India, even surpassing CRBTs.

M-Commerce
This will revolutionize the financial sector especially the microfinance sector which will get a boost from better affordability and reach in rural areas. Banking and insurance will also now reach every household in the village. Booking Movies, places at restaurant, hotels, cars, spas, etc will get a fillip with the advent of m-commerce.

N: Networking, News

Networking
Networking with friends and family is on the rise and according to a recent study not only youngsters, but even middle-aged people are taking to it via mobiles in a huge way. Social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Myspace are seeing an ever increasing mobile population logging into their websites.

News
News across various categories ranging from sports to entertainment to current affairs are being accessed by people on the go. It’s the age of T20 and people want news relevant to them in sachets instead of an overload of information.

O: Ovi-like Stores

Ovi-like Stores
Ovi-like Stores are the one stop shop for future VAS applications. It is a single gateway to a host of applications based upon the requirements of a particular geography, consumer segment, etc. These stores will be open to developers and content providers to come up with compelling applications backed by rich content.

P: Profile, Packaging, Pricing

Profile
Same size doesn’t fit all-age, region, religion, gender matter. VAS should be customized and relevant for the individual based upon his/her demographics. Also the same individual’s needs are different at different time periods and situations. All these factors must be taken into account while coming out with VAS applications.

Packaging
With proper packaging a simple application can be a killer, while without proper packaging, even the best of applications can be flop

Pricing
New target segments demand new business models and new business models in turn necessitate new pricing models. Sachet-based pricing is the way to go, especially in rural areas.

Q: Quiz

Quiz
Quizzing on mobile can be a very popular application not only among the youngsters but can also serve as a tool for interactive learning in rural areas.

R: Ringtones, Religion, Radio, Rural

Ringtones
Most popular VAS across the globe other than SMS-will evolve more with time.

Religion
Timings of various festivals, chants, slokas, etc all are popular religion based VAS across India

Radio
Radio on Mobile will be the next big thing after FM on Mobile. Radio will also get a new lease of life via this new delivery medium.

Rural
The rural market is the one that is driving cellular penetration now and obviously VAS relevant to them will push up the ARPU

S: Search, Satchet

Search
Search on mobile has the potential to be greater than that on the PCs as both audio and textual search can be provisioned.

Satchet
Different markets call for different pricing models. For the rural market, sachet based pricing is the way to go. Already many operators are testing with Rs1/day schemes on various offerings. This is based on the presumption that everybody does not require the same service everyday.

T: TV on Mobile, Ticketing

TV on Mobile
The single most application which will benefit the maximum from the advent of 3G is TV on Mobile. Various programs, clips, audio-visuals would be tailored according to this platform. TV in many Indian household is a shared object and at times there are quarrels in the house with the remote. TV on mobile will exploit this and garner a sizeable media market.

Ticketing
Ticketing on Mobile will save time and money for both rural and urban consumers. Various enterprises are coming forward with ticketing on mobiles. From Train, Car, Bus and Air tickets to movies, etc can be booked directly from your mobile phone.

U: Utilities, UGC

Utilities
Utility Payments from mobile will enable the middle class people to avoid the hassles of Govt. bureaucrats and long queues.

UGC
User Generated Content will drive the services on mobile to a more personal and customizable level. Content will move towards a free regime.

V: Vernacular, Voice

Vernacular
With a lot of applications for the mass market, applications catering to the rural market, Vernacular interaction and delivery process enabled by transliteration engine on the mobile will be a common thing.

Voice
Voice based VAS is the way to go. This enables more interactivity, engagement and is the most easy and popular means for any service. Voice based IVR is one such example. Voice based system does not advocate any structural learning for the end user to utilize it..

W: Wallpaper, Widgets

Wallpaper
Wallpapers on mobile phones are one of the early VAS applications which gained prominence before the era of CRBT and will always be in demand. Wallpapers are available under multiple categories from movies to sports to animals,etc.

Widgets
Mobile widgets are highly useful web-based apps offering videos, photos, news, games, live sports scores, social networking, and LBS

X: VAS.X

VAS.X
The ‘X’ here stands for Gen “X” ie next generation VAS.2/VAS.3….etc.  SMS 2.0 is one such example . It enables interactive hyper-linking of advertisements etc. In essence, any VAS service which evolves to the next level can be termed as VAS.X. This assumes prime significance as most of the VAS services today are undergoing continuous improvements and are evolving to their next level at a break-neck speed.

Y: Youth-based Applications

Youth based Apps
Youth is the largest consumer of VAS and is also the largest demographic market by number in India. They are the early adopters of such services. No doubt, more than 50% of VAS is built around them.

Z: ZooZoo

ZooZoo
ZooZoo is synonymous with Promotion & Packaging. In order to be successful in the VAS industry, don’t do different things, but do things differently. This means while without the right kind of promotion/packaging even the best of applications may not fly, while with proper promotion/packaging even an ordinary application can be a hit.

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Guest article contributed & CO-authored by  Anup Chakraborty & Amit Mehta of Tata Consultancy Services

Anup Chakraborty is currently working with TCS as Assistant Systems Analyst in the domain of Mobile Value Added Services. He is working with a team of go-getters in enabling an end to end VAS ecosystem within TCS leveraging in-house innovations from various centers of excellence.

Amit Mehta, is currently heading the sales and marketing of the VAS, SDP and Mobility group in TCS, where he was one of the founders members, which evolved, created business case and successfully launched the same

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