An empirical study on usage of mobile value added services Dr. Selvam V. Professor of Commerce, SSL, VIT University, Vellore-632 014, Tamil Nadu, India Online published on 20 June, 2013. Abstract Today, Value Added Services (VAS) account for Rs. 5000 Cr. of the total VAS market in India and is projected to grow at the rate of 14% till 2010. Although, the popularity of VAS is growing, the majority of the revenues today come from SMS and ring tones. Many service providers are successfully offering infotainment services such as astrology, stock quotes, mobile commerce etc; however, the revenues from these services still account for less than 10% of overall VAS revenues. With 3G spectrum allocations around the corner, services like video streaming will become reality and access from mobile to other devices will become faster and richer, thus providing further opportunities to the service providers. The distribution of these revenues among content providers, application developers and service providers varies from country to country. However, in most developed countries, the revenues are shared somewhat equally among all players with a few exceptions, while in countries like China and India the majority of the revenues go to the service providers. In India rural market represents a segment with huge potential for MVAS. It is predicted that rural subscribers will grow at a CAGR of 85% during 2007–2011, as against the urban subscriber based on which is expected to grow at just under 24% during the same period. Based on the above, this paper highlights the usage of mobile value added services with reference to Bharti Airtel in Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, and India. Top Keywords Value Added Services, Usage, Service Provider, Customer Service. Top |