The company plans to have two types
of subscription models for this service, one in which the user will
directly pay the operator based on the usage and the other one is by
using a prepaid card, which the company will sell through the
prepaid outlets. Kumar, who self funded the company says that ads
will also be embedded at the end of the songs to have another
revenue stream for the company.
Apart from targeting the
youth with its entertainment value added services, the company also
wants to focus on the rural areas. “There are lots of opportunities
for VAS companies in the villages,” says Kumar. According to the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there has been a rise
of 18 percent in use of the mobiles by rural subscribers. Rising
from 93.2 million users at the end of last year, India today has
more than 110 million rural mobile subscribers. Though the number of
rural subscribers has been growing steadily, because of lack of
awareness the growth of VAS has been restricted in this region, says
a report by Lirneasia. Despite the huge network rollout in rural
areas and the intense low tariff war among the operators the study
showed the usage of VAS in rural areas is just one
percent.
Currently, the company has developed an Interactive
Voice Response System (IVRS) through which a rural woman who is
pregnant can get medical assistance by dialing a number. Another
IVRS platform is also developed for the farmer community to buy and
sell their harvest. “We are talking to some of the government
agencies to implement these applications in villages, which can
bring a lot change in these communities,” says Kumar.
