‘Mobile screen is emerging as the third most popular screen for entertainment options’

Is content king, or is the medium the message? That was the bone of contention at the session on ‘Mobile Entertainment – Whenever, wherever’ on Day 3 of FRAMES 2005. “While around 85 percent of the revenues from mobile entertainment went to the content provider on paper, it actually worked out to much more than that, since the revenue share was only for the download,” said Sing Wang, CEO & ED, TOM Group Ltd.

Of the 300 billion messages exchanged during the Chinese New Year holiday, most were forwards he explained, making the effective revenue share for the cellular service provider in the region of 95 to 97 per cent. Globally, data communication constitutes about 15 percent of the total revenues for cellular service providers. With a base of 1.5 billion mobile users, and a projected growth to exceed 2.5 billion by 2007, the medium of mobiles promises much to entertainment content providers cutting across geographies. Mobile entertainment is expected to touch $100 million by mid-2006.

Arun Gupta, COO, Mauj, said, “Mobile data contributes between 2~15 per cent in terms of ARPU contributions for different operators of the world. The mobile screen is emerging as the third most popular screen, after television and PC for entertainment options.” Stating that exclusive content was now being created the world over for mobiles, he added that revenues were coming in from unexpected locations including upcountry locations. For Mauj, he said the top grossing customer in India was in Uttar Pradesh and the second highest contributor was from Bihar!

The speakers agreed that in the current scenario, the user had a choice – not the option of moving from one application to the other or from one service provider to the other, but of moving away from the medium itself because of disappointment after trial. Balu Nayar, from the value added services and new applications division of Orange, said that there was a danger of stereotyping content without identifying the potential buyers and creating mobile entertainment that excited and involved the subscriber. “We have received higher ARPUs from Meerut, Warangal and other places, maybe because they do not have too many alternative avenues for entertainment.”

Mitch Lazar, Vice-President, Wireless and Emerging Technology, Turner Broadcasting, felt that no opportunities had been missed in the Indian market yet, since the time was right to capitalize on an emerging media like mobile. On business models to drive the market, he said, “As a business, we need to stretch our imagination to be flexible with business models to suit existing modes of entertainment delivery and environments.” Today’s consumers want the best and the latest in technology for free, according to Wang, and that the challenge lay in making money from this situation. Quite a challenge to overcome, Wang, even for the booming mobile entertainment industry!