Applications
Innovation key to driving entertainment consumption on mobile: Experts
MUMBAI: While mobile companies spend a lot of time on product innovation and brainstorming on new ideas, they should look at innovating on the service front as well to build entertainment consumption on the mobile.
The interface is equally important. This was one of the points made at the Mobile Innovation Conference organised by the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
The session was ‘Refreshing mEntertainemt – Five Steps to be taken’. The speakers were Hungama Digital Media Entertainment COO Albert Almeida, Idea Cellular senior VP, head Vas, mobile commerce and long distance Narayanan SP, Mauj Mobile CEO Badri Sanjeevi and Vuclip VP, BD, MD India, Middle East Salman Hussain.
Almeida made the point about innovation being important in both products and services. “Pricing is an innovation. Different models can co-exist. Promotional channels can also be innovative. It is interesting that while the mobile is a personalised device the services are not personalised. It is important that the stakeholders understand consumers better,” he said.
Music, video and gaming will continue to drive entertainment on the mobile, he added.
Almedida touched on the point of government regulation saying that the industry hasn’t been responsible and mature enough to self regulate. “In television we told the government that we would put a mechanism in place to self regulate content. In mobile too we need to adopt best practices that are in the best interests of the consumer.”
Narayan noted that there is interest in launching app stores by different parties including operators. “Our aim is to address a broad spectrum of consumers. App stores of OEMs will co-exist with app stores of mobile operators,” he remarked.
According to Narayan, commercial models will evolve. Things are easier if there is pull based content. If content is uniquely available, then consumers will pay. While costs are growing for unique content, they are also coming down for non unique content.
The issue of revenue sharing was also discussed at the session. While controlling cost is an issue, revenue is a bigger factor. Revenue will grow if a company is able to manage a high level of consumer engagement. Companies have to see what will grow their business in the long term.
Hussain said that it is important to keep in mind the consumer’s criteria in choosing a service and product. That criteria could rest on many things including what is cheapest. Video consumption on Vuclip used to be search based. Now it is increasingly based on sharing. So videos of Bindra, Nehwal winning Olympic medals get heavy traffic, he added.
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.
