One of the most important by product of the mobile phone revolution in India has been the proliferation of what is known as mobile value added services [MVAS]. The rapidly falling ARPUs (Average Revenue per User) of telecom operators and the rising demand of consumers for innovative services beyond the so called basic services, has germinated this new genre of industry. While the industry currently lacks a definition, it can be defined as innovative product or service which does not form the core services of mobile telephony but is offered through an operator's network. It, therefore, encompasses a wide rage beginning with ringtones, RBTs, wall papers, mobile music, mobile games to services such as mobile marketing and mobile banking.

The estimates of industry size vary widely but it is safe to assume that the industry is poised to be one of the leading sectors of the economy as well as a driver of the next round of growth and adoption of mobile phones in India. Most operators still see voice and numbers as the main driver of growth and consider value added services as peripheral. This leads to a skewed incentivisation of the industry in the form of an inverted revenue share. With the lack of innovation, most products and services on offer are rapidly being commoditised and cost arbitrage becoming the sole determinant of business. The resultant cannibalism is a bane of the industry with telecom operators playing one service provider against the other.

For the industry to grow, the operators have to break down walled gardens by providing open access and incentivise innovations. The MVAS industry in order to come up to the level of partners in growth will have to invest in innovation, respect IPR, control undercutting. This Panel Discussion would delve into the current structure of the industry and the future prospects of growth and change considering factors like: the growing importance of MVAS, rapidly falling ARPUs, increased competition among operators with the arrival of new licencees, and growing consumer demand for these services and above all the urge to provide independent services among the MVAS companies.