According to Global Industry Analysts, the Global Mobile Value-added Services (VAS) Market will Grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14%, 2019-2022.
The growth will be driven by increasing smartphone penetration, proliferation of 3G, 4G and 5G services, growing popularity of mobile Internet, and rising consumer spending on telecom services.
A value-added service (VAS) is a term commonly used in the telecommunications industry. It refers to various services beyond the basics (phone calls and fax). Value added services include voice mail, ring back tone, balance checks, top up, SMS voting, recorded messages about expected waiting time, dialing back to the caller to avoid lengthy waits for service, and many others. Operators need various kinds of value added services, which they have to change and update frequently.
Telecom companies use VAS as a means to attract more customers, differentiate themselves, as well as boost margins and average revenue per user.
Characteristics of Value Added Services
- They add value to the core services
- They are not basic services
- They stand alone in terms of their profitability
- They can stimulate increased demand for standard service(s)
- Sometimes, they stand alone operationally
- They are add-ons to the basic service(s)
- They may provide administrative and/or operational synergy among or between other services
- They are not merely used for diversification purposes
Examples of Modern VAS Services
- Voice mail
- SMS voting
- Top up
- Ring back tone
- SMS lotteries
- SMS voting
- Balance checks
- M-commerce and mobile money based services
- Online gaming
- Mobile advertising
- Infotainment and sports services
- Dating and SMS chatting premium services
- OTT and Mobile TV services
- Location-based services
- Live streaming
- Devotional applications
- WAP content downloads
- Recorded messages
- Dialing back to the caller to prevent lengthy service waits
Convergence provides a large variety of value added services for cellular operators. In the tough telecom space, where Average Revenue Per User drops down due to Over-the-Top (OTT) and flat tariff, Convergence offers attractive services helping carriers eliminate some of their operating expenses, while using new VAS Services to capture some revenues lost to the OTT payers.