Applications
Mobile Vas market growing in South Asia, Middle East
MUMBAI: Mobile markets across regions are intensely competitive and some of them have reached saturation in terms of penetration of addressable markets.
With tumbling voice tariffs contributing to declining Average Revenue Per User (Arpu) rates, mobile operators are actively pushing for growth of the non-voice value-added services (Vas) market. Despite the economic uncertainties, the mobile services market in South Asian and Middle East countries continues to sustain a growth path, especially in countries such as India.
The key trends in this market have been noted in analysis done by Frost and Sullivan. Presently, mobile voice revenues constitute the largest chunk of mobile operator‘s revenues, relegating mobile data revenues to a miniscule percentage. However, the mobile operators have realised that in order to curb depleting Arpus, they would need to widen their focus on increasing data revenues. In the case of Messaging, the popularity of Peer to Application (P2A) SMS, where mobile subscribers respond to an application such as voting through SMS for a TV programme, is on the rise.
In terms of the premium mobile entertainment content segment, it remains the most significant form of mobile Vas across the South Asia and Middle East geographies.
Frost & Sullivan industry analyst, ICT Practice, , South Asia and Middle East Lavanya Palani Batcha says, “With many markets almost reaching saturation point or having surpassed saturation in terms of mobile subscriptions penetration, telecom service providers are in need to bolster the ARPUs; and mobile VAS has the potential to alleviate this issue of declining ARPUs.”
The regional trend in different countries is equally interesting. India is the fastest growing mobile market in South Asia with good potential for growth amongst the rural population. The mobile VAS market is set to grow at a strong CAGR of 16.6 per cent from 2008 to 2015.
Saudi Arabian mobile market has a high mobile penetration. However, the country still witnesses steady year-on-year growth in this sector. Vas market is expected to exhibit CAGR of 10.6 per cent between 2008 and 2015.
Sri Lanka has a relatively moderate mobile user penetration of 42.4 per cent; hence there is good potential for growth. 3G services such as Video SMS, Dial and Watch TV have been introduced.
The UAE has one of the highest mobile subscription penetrations in the South Asia and Middle East region. Both mobile operators, Etisalat and Du, increasing their focus on revenue streams from Vas and mobile TV and mobile internet, have strong potential.
The Egyptian mobile market still possesses a sizeable under-penetrated addressable market, thereby providing avenues for growth. Relatively strong CAGR of 14.1 per cent is estimated for the mobile Vas market in Egypt between 2008 and 2015.
Pakistan‘s mobile market is robust with intense price wars amongst the local and foreign mobile operators. Estimated mobile Vas market CAGR is 16.8 per cent between 2008 and 2015.
The mobile Vas market in South Asia and Middle East is anticipated to exhibit strong to moderate growth owing to untapped potential for Vas in these regions, 3G networks proliferation, and a saturation of revenues, and adoption of plain vanilla mobile voice services. The market is also expected to witness the emergence of stronger mobile VAS content providers/aggregators with the ability to grasp better revenue shares from the mobile operators.
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.
