(4 June 2009 10:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Indian consumers are increasingly willing to experiment with the next generation mobile services. There exists a huge potential for mobile chat services, video gaming on mobile and watching live TV on mobile in India, suggests the recent Consumers and Convergence III survey done by KPMG.

As per the report, globally 18 per cent of respondents were likely to use a mobile chat service in next 6-12 months. However, in India there is a much higher proportion (34 per cent) of respondents who are likely to use mobile chat, indicating a growing demand for such services.

Also, 86 per cent of respondents in India, much the same as in China, indicated likelihood of watching live TV on mobile phone in the next 12 months.

KPMG India head of information, communication and entertainment Rajesh Jain says, “While the mobile additions exceed 10 million a month on one hand, Arpu (average revenue per user) continue to drop on the other hand. Telecom players recognise that increase in Value Added Services (Vas) revenues will be an important aspect of future growth and profitability. Players in the value chain are innovating and focusing on increasing the market size for their products and services.”

KPMG surveyed over 4,000 consumers in 19 countries worldwide to understand the future for the market, revealing global trends and regional differences.

Music, the survey reveals, is a very desirable commodity and attractive to mobile phone users; 30 per cent of respondents have purchased songs on their mobile phones in the last 12 months. The majority of respondents, 66 per cent globally, 95 per cent in India, 86 per cent in the UK and 84 per cent in the US, were satisfied with their download experience.

KPMG’s survey reveals that 17 per cent of mobile gaming users globally were very satisfied with the services worldwide. In India, although the user base of mobile gaming is smaller, a substantially higher proportion (63 per cent) was satisfied with the service, which reflects gaining acceptance and opportunity for mobile gaming companies as the segment moves beyond the early adopters.

KPMG India media and entertainment practice Jehil Thakkar says, “This survey clearly shows the great potential India has for Vas. Convergence is rapidly unlocking the value of India’s vast and growing mobile user base. Those companies that employ innovative strategies to monetize this trend are likely to benefit for a long time to come.”

Interestingly, while a majority of users globally are not willing to receive advertisements on mobile phone in exchange for free content, in India, 80 per cent users were willing to receive advertisement for free music downloads and more than 50 per cent were willing to receive advertisement for free instant messaging and video games. This indicates that Indian mobile subscribers are more open than most others to ad-funded content. Further, 66 per cent of Indian users, compared with 49 per cent in China, are at least somewhat open to allowing tracking of online usage in exchange for lower costs.

Bandwidth is also highlighted as important for purchases of video clips and mobile TV. 85 per cent of respondents’ rate clear pricing top in the list of factors influencing their next purchase, but download speed is high in the list of buying criteria at 84 per cent as well. In India, 93 per cent indicated clear pricing and 94 per cent indicated download speed as influencing their next purchase of video clips and mobile TV.