VAS revenues to touch 46 bln mark by end of current fiscal

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) The revenue generated out of the value added services (VAS) of mobile will reach Rs 46 billion by end of current fiscal from Rs 28 billion in 2006-07, despite entertainment industry being plagued with rampant piracy, an industry body estimated today.

According to a paper released by Assocham and Ernst and Young on 'Digitization - Paving Way for New Media', the VAS share in mobile operator's revenue, which was nine per cent in 2006-07, will grow up to 18 per cent by 2010 as its popularity will be registered at a large pace.

Releasing the Paper, Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot and National Sector Leader E&Y India Farokh T Balsara said, ''we expect that 295 of an estimated 100 million pay television households led by DTH technology will migrate to digital platforms by 2010.'' ''Digitalization has obvious benefits for players across the value chain, especially the Multi System Operators (MSOs) and the broadcaster,'' they added.

From a current share of 78 per cent for Local Cable Operator (LCO), five per cent for MSO and 17 per cent for the broadcaster, the paper said the share is expected to be redistributed and stabilised at 54 per cent for the LCO and 23 per cent for the MSO and broadcaster each.

The paper claims that the country is expected to have 2000 digital screens in next three years particularly in tier II and tier III cities and the factors responsible for its popularity will include transmission of digital information at much competitive price and convenience.

The paper pointed out that high-speed bandwidth connectivity results in a significant amount of content sharing and consumption through the internet.

The home entertainment model is expected to take on a larger role, reducing window periods for theatrical viewing and there will be a stronger clamp down on piracy, according to the paper.

The Paper also expects that home entertainment revenues, combining DVD/VCD revenues along with digital pay television platforms and broadcasting rights will contribute upto 45 per cent of the total revenues of films.

UNI