3G VAS- A significant Mobile value added service

Mobile value-added services including 3G VAS are those services that provide segregation and the facility for mobile operators to charge a premium price. Mobile VAS include non-voice highly developed messaging services such as SMS, MMS, MIM and wireless data services based on wireless data bearer technologies such as WLAN, GPRS and WAP with VAS applications including mobile gaming facility. Mobile Value-added services is floating for exponential enlargement with more countries advancing towards 3G & 4G, enabling ever more services being offered over mobiles. The share of revenues from VAS is rising for telecom operators.

For mobile advertisers and operators, success of VAS has turn out to be important for their growth. This has led to a sharp focus on promotion & tie-ups and a somewhat limited focus on development of content. Most of the mobile operators are trying to innovate in their VAS contributions and create eye-catching differentiation for their offerings. Operators are facing intense competition and the margins from their voice businesses are very declining. Thus they are looking at VAS as the next sign for growth. It has become the flywheel of telecom development and a large mass of revenue for operators is likely to come from VAS services in the coming years.