I was taught in my B-School that every industry has a value chain. And absolutely no points for guessing that Mobile VAS has one as well which I wanted to discuss in this post.
This industry started as a value addition to the mobile value chain and has matured itself into a vertical in the telecom arena in itself. People’s perspective of the value chain is simple – a linear line up of entities. But my understanding of the subject is a little more complicated. To my views, the mobile VAS value chain was a linear structure that would mature into 2nd dimension whereas the VAS providers (VASPs) move towards starting a relationship directly with the mobile subscriber.
The traditional entities in the value chain are:
- Content Generator – Online Portals, TV channels, Movies, etc.
- Content Aggregator
- VASP – Can be deciphered in two ways – VAS Provider or VAS Application Service Providers
- Mobile Network Operator
- Subscriber
These players are placed in the value chain as depicted in the figure below: (Apologies for such a raw appearing figure as my focus is on clarity of subject and not to mention that I am not great at photo editing softwares)
This is already a 2 Dimensional chain wherein the content generator is directly providing the content to operator and also through aggregator.
Although as of today, since the customer is owned by the operator, he bills the subscriber and provides a revenue share to other parties. But this landscape is moving towards a paradigm shift with newer players making entry into this much sought after and booming arena and adding new dimensions to it.
The new buzzwords are mobile advertising, mobile TV and retail (focused at approaching the customer directly). And the new players into this market are many more. I would discuss more about the Relationship between the various players in the value chain and how the value chain stands as of now.
Jatin Madan
