Value-added services sector to touch USD 2 bn this year: PwC

New Delhi : Backed by young Indians, music and gaming are going to be cherry on the pie for the telecom sector growth, with value-added services estimated to reach about USD 2 billion this year, says consultancy firm PwC. India has one of the youngest tech-savvy population, ready to adopt new services, which is giving a fillip to the value-added services (VAS) in the country, a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said. Among various other VAS, music and gaming are going to be the major driving forces in boosting revenue and growth of telecom sector in India, it said. VAS includes SMS, ring-back tone, content download, caller line identification, ringtones and GPRS among others. As per 2007 figures, SMS contributed 44 per cent to the total revenue generated by VAS business followed by ringtones, GPRS and others. Among other VAS, the report said, mobile smart card is another feature which promises to replace plastic cards and fulfill the gap in rural banking infrastructure by remitting funds through mobile phones. The consultancy firm said growth in VAS has been fueled by the improving quality of handsets and their reducing prices, lowering age profile of handset owners and innovation in content and packaging. It said increasingly handsets are colour-screen with polyphonic tones and GPRS, which provide greater opportunities for offering innovative VAS services. India has a huge potential in VAS as the mobile penetration is still comparatively low, the report added. The firm said worldwide mobile gaming end user revenue is expected to grow to USD 9.6 billion by 2011 and expenditure on music received on mobile handsets is likely to increase to USD 32.2 billion by 2010 from USD 13.7 billion in 2007.

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