3G Rollout: What customers can expect?

BANGALORE, INDIA:India is all set to announce the successful bidders of the high-speed third-generation mobile service (3G) auction.The process, stated to be the world's biggest such auctions over the past few years with government hoping to net revenues of nearly $8 billion from 3G and a near simultaneous auction of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, is expected to take atlest one week.

Nine firms are competing in the widely watched airwaves auction that would pave way for the introduction of 3G services in the world's fastest-growing mobile market. So what is in store for

the 3G users?

The 3G services will bring enhanced content services like music, tones, pictures. Besides subscribers will also enjoy real time 3G applications like; video call, media rich portal, high speed Internet access, gaming, live streaming, surveillance camera, music, location based service and file sharing among others. The 3G also is expected to promote faster roll out of various rural applications like e-governance and e-education.

New Generation of VAS

The 3G services will allow cell phone users high-speed access to the Internet so that they can download data-heavy files such as music and videos faster than in the present networks as well as

use their cell phones for applications such as video conferencing.

Further, 3G services are expected to bring more applications that can make the user experience much

richer.

Pushpendra Mankad, senior vice president of Comverse, Asia, in an interview to CIOL said he was optimistic that the VAS market is expected to get mature and the ARPUs may increase tremendously. The possibility of innovative content for VAS will increase and user experience will enhance. It will really be interesting to watch the WiMax proliferation which can really change the MVAS landscape.

With 3G services ironing its way in, the VAS industry is expected to increase its share by manifolds. Some industry estimates peg the figure at US$ 6 billion by 2015. With 3G service providers would bank on the VAS segment to bring in additional revenues. Improved technology, phones with larger screen sizes and multimedia capabilities, improved GPRS networks will be key drivers of the VAS segment.

Bangalore-based On-Mobile has already developed a technology that will help subscribers to shoot

video or an audio and upload these on a social networking site with a voice over. All this can be

done in seconds. Similarly, there is a lot of talk about personalized video advertisements too.

As 3G rolls out in India, a huge shift is expected in television viewing with mobile phones are set

to take over as new platform.  To make things faster in this direction, Erricsson India is providing

the network infrastructure for BSNL to launch mobile TV.

Advisory firm BDA estimates the Indian VAS market will grow from $1.5 billion in 2008 to $7.8

billion by 2013. But over half of that are SMS revenues. BDA figures that of the remaining, over 55

per cent, is made up by just one product - the ubiquitous caller tune, the music you hear when you

call someone.