Movies and cricket are religion in the pop milieu, but the revelation for mobile phone companies was how spirituality also lends a resonating ring - to their cash registers.
Just why these days, operators love the likes of 27-year-old Ankeet Dave, a resident of Mulund, who has subscribed to Vaishnav jana tene kahiye - the immortal composition of the 15th century Gujarati poet Narsi Mehta - as his caller ringback tone or, in telecom argot, CRBT.
"It's a soothing tune and I think people who call me wouldn't mind listening to it," says Dave, who is part of the 215 million strong Indian mobile user base that is reaching out to regional and devotional content.
So much so, the Gayatri Mantra is heard infinitely more times in caller tunes than temples.
Assocham estimates mobile VAS to grow into a Rs 4,000 crore market by March 2008. Although no statistics are available on the exact contribution of regional and devotional content to this segment, Manoj Dawane, CEO, People Infocom (Mauj Mobile) depends on this for at least one-third of his revenues.
"The popularity of regional and devotional value-added services is second only to the popularity of Bollywood-based content. This segment is showing rapid growth, especially from Tier-II and Tier-III cities," he says.
Which explains why Mauj launched a spiritual channel for consumers who are continuously on the move, and have little time for daily rituals. From Hanuman to Jesus Christ, Durga Ma to Sai Baba, the offerings include wallpapers, animation figures, colour logos, themes and ringtones representing India's spiritual diversity. All of which can be downloaded to the user's handset at nominal prices ranging from Rs 15-30 depending on the package chosen.
Manu Talwar, CEO of M&G circle, Bharti Airtel said regional content has been witnessing handsome growth.
"Downloads in this segment of VAS have more than doubled in the last six months," he says.
No wonder then, that mobile VAS providers like Hungama Mobile are increasingly scouting for trends and looking to strike alliances with local music labels and content firms.
It has launched a regional content acquisition drive by the name 'Project Yellow'. On board are 13 labels across 16 languages including Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Garwalhi, Maithili, Brajbhasha with companies like Veena music, Tellytunes, Sur Mandir, Jay Audio, Krunal music and Sumeet Music.
Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Mobile says increasing focus on smaller towns and regional labels is a natural progression after Bollywood.
"Faith and devotion is part of the cultural component of Indians. As mobile operators are penetrating deeper into the country, it's but an obvious decision on our part to tap content that is suited to mass appeal," he says.
Apart from Tamil and Telugu speaking markets, Hungama is also eyeing Bhojpuri-speaking markets like Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
"Bhojpuri is getting increasingly popular. About Rs 150 crore is riding on actor Ravi Kisshen alone," Roy said.
There's good reason why both telecom operators and mobile content providers are upbeat about regional and devotional VAS.
A research report by Boston Analytics said with average revenue per user (ARPU) dropping in a time of competitive tariffs, operators are being forced to turn to VAS as a bankable revenue stream. The focus of telecom operatorsm especially in India has now shifted from customer acquisition to VAS so as to enhance stickiness/loyalty.
Mahesh Prasad - president (applications, solutions and content group), Reliance Communications, says regionalisation of VAS is an inevitable reality.
"As operators go more into the smaller ARPU base, they will have to target pockets that have been so far unaddressed."
That's why operators such as Tata Teleservices and Airtel are expecting VAS to contribute 15-18 per cent of their revenues in the coming fiscal, up from the current 10-11 per cent.
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