In growth markets like India, where the majority of the population is based in rural areas, it is important for the mobile industry to develop VAS relevant to the needs of the people in those areas and address issues that include illiteracy and the demand for content in the local language format.
In addition, generating awareness by effective marketing of these services to the rural population is equally important. At present, most operators use SMS and IVR to communicate new services, offers and promotions to subscribers. IVR is particularly useful in regions of low literacy and where there is need to communicate with people in their local/regional languages.
Shailendra Pandey is a senior analyst for Informa Telecoms & Media