The VAS market in India is growing at an exponential rate making it the fastest growing entertainment market in the world. The young brigade of Indians is driving this growth.

The Economic Times has reported that in a study conducted by the leading mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, cell phone market for youth in India has been experiencing growth at almost 300%.The study revealed that the youth mobile phone market increased sharply to 27.6 Million in 2006 from a mere 8.3 Million during 2005.

In India, entertainment is considered as one of the primary segments for revenue generation for the Value Added Services (VAS). It is perceived that this entertainment factor is driving the upsurge in mobiles and is expected to dominate the market in future as well.

The survey also found that the onset of most up-to-date mobile phone technologies, which are capable of providing high speeds of transmission, have assisted social networking as these technologies have led to similar video streaming and web surfing experience just like users get from their PCs. These technologies are also facilitating new forms of entertainment such as mobile TV in India.

VAS, such as 3G services and mobile TV, are in great demand in India and particularly in the rural areas. Tech-savvy youngsters have a lot of interest in features like memory card, Bluetooth and the Internet, who consider it highly essential while purchasing mobile phones. All these factors have made India one of the fastest growing mobile entertainment markets in the world.

The actual reason for this surge is however associated with Indian culture and consumer behavior. India is experiencing similar trends that exist in Japan, Korea and Europe where the mobile entertainment market is booming. The sector’s growth is attracting musicians, publishers, animators and developers, while encouraging the development of ground-breaking business models.

A Senior Research Analyst at RNCOS says “The VAS market in India is undergoing rapid growth so the industry will have to come up with innovations frequently in this area to meet the rising consumer demands. There is huge scope in developing applications for mobile related applications which are expected to become the next big thing in VAS. This would provide advertisers to display their message as an entertainment video at the desired time with highest impact on their target consumers”.