Friday 27 April 2012


Mobile Network operators are fighting it out to be the best in the business. Of course the intensity has been rapidly increased after the launch of GSM and CDMA services. With the introduction of MNP (Mobile number portability) the competition has further intensified. Though India remains one of the fastest growing mobile markets in terms of its subscriber base, but operators are finding it extremely difficult to stay clear of this competition. Due to the increased number of service providers only providing good service to end users are not enough. Having strategic tie ups with VAS (Value Added Service) companies is also a vital strategy that they are adopting to stay afloat. 

TRAI Regulations as a set back
Earlier in the year TRAI had set a regulation of not more than 200 smses per day, in order to reduce unsolicited and pesky text messages from telemarketers selling everything from real estate to weight loss solutions. This obviously has taken a beating in terms of the revenue for most of the service operators. Researchers and technical development teams are trying their level best to bring about a solution for such regulations that would not hamper their growth in terms of revenue and Sms Circulation. As a result of the TRAI regulations advertisers too are shying away from advertising on mobiles as most of these texts are getting blocked.
The solution to all the above problems might just be a new technology called VMS (Video Mailing & Messaging Service). How can VMS actually solve the operator’s woe and bring in a revolution in mobile and internet usage, let’s find out.

What is VMS?
 With this VMS technology one can transmit Audio Visual Communication to any Mobile Phone, iPhone, BlackBerry and Personal Computers simultaneously. A simple SMS which is very common in today’s world will be able to carry an encoded audio-video message to the recipient’s device and instantly play in the respective media player through a process of progressive download (streaming). The medium of transmission will be the widely used internet. A mobile phone which has GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) activation or a PC that has internet connectivity will be able to render the service.
A simple reference (looks like a URL) is send to the mobile user as an SMS. It actually is an encoded form of a video which the user need not search or browse. User can directly play that video which he or she receives as an SMS. Thus the Browse and search component is absolutely free. The advantage is that it is less time consuming and a targeted video can be sent to the recipient instantly in a hassle free manner.
There is no size limitation of any video file or attachment sent through the newly invented product. It can also merge any audio visual commercial with video content broadcasted as an SMS which means multiple video can be merged before broadcasting. Also one need not download a file and waste space on their device as it runs on progressive streaming. Further if one wants along with the SMS the video can also be sent to one’s inbox. That not it, any word, excel, pdf or ppt attachment can also be sent.

Finally how mobile service based companies benefit?
With this powerful too now they cannot only increase their subscription base but also the number of SMSes used per user. Imagine if users are given the option to share unlimited videos via SMS, this concept would sell like hot cake, as it is cost effective too. Further it is a fantastic advertisement tool as multiple videos can be integrated in one message. Which means this can also be a humongous source of revenue for integration of advertising video clips. So while uploading as well as while viewing one can insert advertisements on internet devices easily. This would further eliminate the problems of mass SMS advertisements getting blocked, as it would be purely a user to user communication.
Of course there are so many other ways mobile operators can use VMS for their advantage and bring in heaps of revenue for their company. But they really need to have the first mover ‘s advantage in order to capitalize on this path breaking technology called VMS.