Mobile VAS Numbers for India:
Key Numbers as of March 2008
- Total Mobile subcribers – 250mn
- Avg. ARPU : Rs. 250/
- Prepaid connection comprise 85% of total subscriber base.
- VAS constitutes 7% of the total total telecom revenue for Indian operators.
- Digital music (including CRBT and ringtones) constitutes 35% of VAS revenue
- Almost half of Indians use ULCH (Ultra Low Cost Handsets)
ARPU Split of Rs 250
| Voice + Rentals | 90% | Rs 225 | Includes Rentals, Activation Charges, etc. |
| P2P SMS (primarily)
Also: GPRS Data, Call Roaming, CLI |
5% | Rs 12.50 | None of this flows through to the VAS Providers |
| Other VAS | 5% | Rs 12.50 | Rs 4,300 cr / $1 billion annualised revenue |
| Revenue for VASPs | 17% of the 5% above | Rs 2 | Rs 750 cr cr / $180 million annualised revenue |
VAS Revenues by Category
|
Category |
Penetration |
Numbers (million) |
Revenue (Rs / mo) |
ARPU |
Total Revenue (Rs / mo) |
VAS Revenue (Rs / mo) |
Annual VAS Revenue |
Key Players |
| P2P SMS |
35% |
80 m |
Rs 30 |
Rs 11 |
Rs 250 cr |
Rs 3,500 cr |
||
| CRBT |
25% |
65 m |
Rs 25 |
Rs 5.50 |
Rs 165 cr |
Rs 30 cr |
Rs 350 cr |
OnMobile
BhartiTele Hungama |
| IVR / Voice Portal |
15% |
30 m |
Rs 20 |
Rs 3 |
Rs 60 cr |
Rs 10 cr |
Rs 125 cr |
OnMobile
One97 Cellebrum |
| Downloads (Ringtones, Wallpapers, Games) |
10% |
25 m |
Rs 10 |
Re 1 |
Rs 25 cr |
Rs 6 cr |
Rs 75 cr |
Hungama |
| SMS Subs. |
5% |
15 m |
Rs 20 |
Re 1 |
Rs 30 cr |
Rs 6 cr |
Rs 75 cr |
One97 |
| P2A SMS |
15% |
30 m |
Rs 6 |
Re 1 |
Rs 30 cr |
Rs 6 cr |
Rs 75 cr |
IndiaTimes |
| Misc |
Re 1 |
Rs 50 cr |
Rs 5 cr |
Rs 50 cr |
||||
| TOTAL (ex-P2P SMS) |
250 m |
Rs 12.50 |
Rs 360 cr |
Rs 63 cr |
Rs 750 cr |
Does this mean that VAS market is ~200mn industry only (though the expected CAGR is ~44% )?
Entities in VAS Value chain
- Content/Application Owner – cos. like saregama/mauj/Rajshri who develop coyrighted content
- Aggregator – aggregates content like games/wallpapers/ringtones and distributes it to suit customer needs [players : mauj, hungama mobile, indiatimes mobile etc]
- software developer – develops applications (like payment/games/middleware etc.) for mobile VAS [players – mchek/July systems/webaroo/affle etc]
- Technology Enabler – provides the platform that plugs into telco networks and acts like a bridge between aggregator and telcos [players include OnMobile, cellnext. mauj etc]
Operators still dominate the revenue sharing arrangement in VAS [Of the amount paid by end users, 60-70% is kept by operator, aggregator gets 20-25% and content app/owner gets 10-15% of the revenue]
Via Emergic (with permission from Rajesh) and our earlier post on VAS Market Research
Ashiish K Sinha
