Telcos' VAS earnings rise 15% on IPL
IPL has bolstered mobile VAS revenues as telecom operators and value-added services providers are laughing all the way to the bank. Cheerleaders in IPL T20
By Amit Sharma, |
NEW DELHI: Indian Premier League has bolstered mobile VAS revenues. Telecom operators and value-added services providers are laughing all the way to the banks with the growing popularity of IPL content. And, it���s just fourteen days into the 45-day tourney.
���Telecom companies and VAS content providers are going to see a rise of up to 15% in their revenues this month because of the IPL. A major part of this will come through person-to-person SMS or text messaging,��� reveals Rajiv Hiranandani, CEO Mobile2win, the mobile VAS company that has tied up with SET Max, the event���s official broadcaster.
Currently, industry-wide VAS revenues stand at around Rs 500-600-crore per month. A 15% IPL-led jump would translate into Rs 75-90-crore of additional revenues.
���The SMS traffic generated by the league is fantastic. We are getting 40 to 50 thousand responses every day, a figure that we expect to reach 1.5 to 2 lacs in the next 10-12 days,��� adds Hiranandani. Bharti Airtel declined to comment on ET���s query on IPL���s impact on its VAS revenues. Vodafone, IPL���s official telecom partner, was unavailable for comment.
���Telecom companies and VAS content providers are going to see a rise of up to 15% in their revenues this month because of the IPL. A major part of this will come through person-to-person SMS or text messaging,��� reveals Rajiv Hiranandani, CEO Mobile2win, the mobile VAS company that has tied up with SET Max, the event���s official broadcaster.
Currently, industry-wide VAS revenues stand at around Rs 500-600-crore per month. A 15% IPL-led jump would translate into Rs 75-90-crore of additional revenues.
���The SMS traffic generated by the league is fantastic. We are getting 40 to 50 thousand responses every day, a figure that we expect to reach 1.5 to 2 lacs in the next 10-12 days,��� adds Hiranandani. Bharti Airtel declined to comment on ET���s query on IPL���s impact on its VAS revenues. Vodafone, IPL���s official telecom partner, was unavailable for comment.
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Apart from the regular score updates, there are wallpapers, screensavers, photos, ringtones of team anthems etc all, priced anywhere between Rs 3 to Rs 15 per download. Says Manoj Dawane, CEO People Infocom, the company that owns Mauj.com; ���The event has built up good traffic that is revenues. We are seeing a 20 per cent increase in revenues in the sports and general entertainment VAS services.���
But is it a temporary burst in revenues that will die down post the season? Anuj Kumar, Executive Director, South Asia, Affle, thinks otherwise. ���I think that the demand will persist even post the event and till such time, we will continue providing IPL-related content.��� Affle is the mobile marketing company through which IPL is advertising to Airtel, the country���s largest mobile operator, subscribers.
Mukul Khanna, Vice President, Marketing, Spice Telecom chooses to put the phenomenon matter-of-factly. ���Whenever there is a cricket match, it results in huge score pulls, that have the big impact on revenues. But the length and intensity of one-day matches, given that national loyalties come into play, make them bigger money spinners,��� he informs. Spice, with mobile operations in Punjab and Karnataka, has also introduced Cricket Central, a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) portal, for hosting IPL-related content.
Cellular service provider Aircel, that claims over 10-million subscribers across its 9 telecom circles across the country, has set up an IPL-exclusive shortcode, SMS, voice and MMS service. The company has tied up with other players in the space to maximise revenues.
���We are expecting our revenues from the cricket and entertainment packages to go up three-four fold during the period that IPL runs,��� says Rahul Sehgal, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel Cellular Limited.
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Meanwhile, Rajat Mukherjee, Idea Cellular���s chief corporate affairs officer feels that the IPL will have a restricted impact on its VAS revenues. ���The matches are coming on TV with high viewership ratings. They are telecast at convenient timings. Also, the event���s duration is merely 40-odd days. Consequently, despite generating great public interest, the event would not have as much of an impact on our annual VAS revenues.���
���As such, revenues from VAS form an average of 10% of any service provider���s total earnings. Idea is at par with the industry standard,��� he adds.
A recent BDA-Stanford study estimates the Indian mobile VAS industry to grow to Rs 11,600-crore by 2010. This market is set to cross the Rs 5,000-crore mark by the end of this year.
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