'Mobile phone radio offers revenue-earning opportunity'
Mumbai: Since private FM radio currently earns only Rs 600 crore in advertising revenues, there is a significant revenue-earning potential in monetizing mobile phone radio, says Pankaj Sethi, President, Value-Added Services and Enterprise Market, Tata Teleservices. He was speaking at a panel discussion on the radio business at the FICCI Frames Media Convention.
Industry estimates say that FM radios will be able to increasingly penetrate smaller towns as 50 to 60 percent of mobile phones have built-in FM radio. This could increase out-of-home listenership. Currently, 85 percent of radio listening is home-based.
"Mobile users are used to paying for services. Value-added services are now a Rs 7,000-crore market. But FM radio on mobile is a VAS offered by mobile operators that is not adequately monetized," said Sethi, adding that the radio industry can earn an additional Rs 300 crore by dipping into this segment.
The radio industry should join the mobile telephony industry in discovering a way to capitalize on this growing trend of listening to radio on the mobile, Sethi added.
siliconindia news bureau
Reader’s comments
Comment 1: Features on mobile such as the camera, MP3 player, videoplayer, torchlight, GPS and even applications that do not use the CDMA or GSM air interface
are outside the purview of both mobile operator and the VAS provider.
This includes use of the mobile as a PDA.
Likewise FM radio on mobile is not a VAS offerable by mobile operators.
The issue of monetization is irrelevant and wishful thinking on the part of the VAS businesses.
Posted by : Ram Rao - Friday, March 28, 2008
are outside the purview of both mobile operator and the VAS provider.
This includes use of the mobile as a PDA.
Likewise FM radio on mobile is not a VAS offerable by mobile operators.
The issue of monetization is irrelevant and wishful thinking on the part of the VAS businesses.
Posted by : Ram Rao - Friday, March 28, 2008
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