Applications
Indian Vas market to cross Rs 219.4 bn in 2010
MUMBAI: The Indian Value Added Services (Vas) market, which includes messaging, mobile internet, social networking and mobile payments, is expected to cross Rs 219.40 billion in 2010, up from Rs 166.50 billion in the earlier year.
The usage of Vas with 3G and BWA offers operators the opportunity to adopt differential pricing strategies for video content and caters to both the mass and niche market demands, said MTNL Mumbai executive director Gopal.
As India makes the transition to 3G and BWA, convergence will become a reality. By the end of the next decade, the distinction between voice and data will fade away, voice will be transmitted as data packets and high-end data applications will offer a wide range of services and benefits for consumers.
Said Gopal, “This trend is clearly demonstrated by the increased adoption of 3G in Asia and other parts of the world.”
Gopal was addressing a Mobile Vas Conference on Impact of 3G and BWA on Mobile Vas, organised by Indian Merchants’ Chambers.
IMC president Gul Kripalani said that there exists a vast world beyond basic telephony that needs to be carefully explored and the entire mobile industry was heading towards it to provide ever more novel options to their customers. Often spoilt by choice, mobile phone subscribers are beginning to choose their operators on the basis of the value-added services they offer.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
