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MUMBAI: The Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) industry could be worth of Rs 4560 crores by the end of 2007, from its current size of Rs 2850 crores, according to the ‘Mobile Value Added Services Report’ jointly prepared by the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International.
A break up of the total market size of Rs 2850 crores reveals that P2P (person to person) SMS or Text Messaging, continues to dominate the industry with Rs 1140 crores, followed by Ringtones, including Caller Ring Back Tones (CRBT) at Rs 1026 crores; P2A (Person to Application) and A2P (Application to Person) at Rs 428 crores; Games and Data at Rs 171 crores and others (MMS etc) at Rs 86 crores, according to the report.
The P2P SMS revenue is accrued completely to the telecom operators. The remaining MVAS revenues are distributed among content owners, developers and the telecom operators on a revenue sharing basis.
In the case of MVAS (except P2P SMS) the revenue sharing arrangement is heavily in favour of telecom operators. This model is significantly different from more developed markets such as China where typically the operators are entitled to 20-30 per cent only. In the case of enterprise solution services the revenue share arrangement between operator and short code owner is typically 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
Commenting on the study Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI, said, “This is the first attempt at a market estimate for the industry and we are hopeful that government and industry will now look at the MVAS industry with the attention that is due to it.” He also added that for the market to grow and come out with innovative solutions three issues must be set right at the outset: a) revenue sharing and schedule of payments which is currently heavily in favour of telecom operators, b) stable and long term enabling policies by the government, and c) intra industry issues such as IPR, etc. Without these, the industry will not be able to sustain growth.
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