3G set to redefine the face of mobile gaming in India

The roll out of 3G services in India is not only going to redefine the way people communicate, but will also unleash a plethora of opportunities for service providers, value added service (VAS) providers, as well as for customers.
Third generation (3G) technology is the new buzzword in the world of telecommunications and as such its launch opens the door to innovative value added services which will bring everything to one convergent device.

Mobile handsets, in fact, have graduated from being merely devices of voice communication and have emerged as ‘convergence' and ‘lifestyle support devices'. They have diversified themselves and have become an inevitable asset for every individual; a mini storage of all the data needs of users, right from professional assistance to personal engagements to leisure enhancements.
The Indian telecom network has emerged to be the second largest in the world with total subscriber base of over 670 million at the end of July this year. With this, overall teledensity in the country has reached over 58 per cent. India is also the second largest handset market in the world with about 15 million new handsets sold every month.
India's telecom subscriber base, on the other hand, has touched a record high of about 600 million and is touted to reach 770 million by 2013. With the rollout of 3G services, this base is likely to break new barriers.
Research firm CRISIL has already said that the 3G services industry subscriber base is likely to touch the 100-million mark by the end of the fifth year of operations.
As stated earlier, 3G is also set to unleash a plethora of opportunities for VAS providers and is likely to increase the numbers soon. Currently, the VAS market in India is pegged at around $45 billion, which is likely to be over Rs 5,400 crore by the end of this year and over Rs 12,000 crore by the end of 2015.
This is because applications such as web browsing, mobile banking, mobile games, mobile banking, videos, conferencing, e-commerce and access to other data services will become easy to use for general consumers and will reach across boundaries. Higher bandwidth will permit high quality games to be downloaded easily and quickly, enabling a large number of consumers to access such games in a fraction of seconds.
High-end mobile devices with more processing power, memory and larger screens embedded with speed will enhance the overall gaming experience for the consumer. In fact, 3G users are expected to spend at least 3-4 times more money on gaming as compared to normal users.
Also, the multi-faceted 3G technology will provide a host of services such as updates on news, sports, stock market, music and entertainment, ring back tones, games, m-advertising and m-commerce.
The launch of 3G will in fact open the door to innovative value added services which will bring everything to just one convergent device. Applications like caller tunes, ad tunes, live TV, video viewing, gaming would be keyed up.
3G would make multimedia more available so that mobile advertising can grow with increased data usage on the handset, thus directly targeting the individual as a key capability.
Games-on-demand, real time gaming and Karaoke-on-demand can be most sought after value added services. All voice-based VAS applications could create vast opportunity for content providers. Users can subscribe to the content they wish to have and could be pulled to their mobile phones so that they can watch it when it is convenient for them.
There is also room for VAS players to offer their content directly to a subscriber by leasing a line from the operator and using it for video streaming.
The increase of function-rich smartphones in the market with larger screen size, better web browsing capabilities and longer battery life combined with ‘all you can eat' data packages, is driving the growth of mobile internet and gaming, making these ready channels to connect with customers.
What makes the VAS market even more attractive and full of potential is the fact that it is today no longer just confined to urban areas. Seventy per cent of the total population in India resides in rural areas. The share of rural subscribers in the Indian mobile market has increased considerably, attracting mobile service providers with hefty resources to tap the promising market.
According to a market research report by RNCOS, the rural mobile subscriber base is expected to touch nearly 320 million by 2012-end, being a potential market for such value added services.
To keep pace with the ever expanding VAS market space, Nazara Technologies, as a leading content provider, has always looked forward to new opportunities so as to keep itself in sync with changing trends in the telecom market. 3G technology holds a lot of potential for innovative value added services to meet the demands of users. This will be a challenge for all content providers in terms of developing consumer-friendly applications which meet the standards of 3G technology.
Nazara has already forayed into social gaming network for mobile internet users through a service called My Gang, which offers a gamut of features like User Profiles, Profile Images, Private Messaging, Public & Private Chat, Friendship Management, Social Multiplayer Games, Free Content Downloads, and My Shop. Nazara has been successfully running a very popular multi-player game named Housie in My Gang.
Nazara will also introduce Massive Multiplayer Mobile Game development which will see players competing against many other people around the world with their mobile phones. Moreover, localization of content, new payment mechanisms etc will also change the trend in gaming.
Nazara has also signed an agreement with Games Club to launch mobile games for a flat rate at GamesClub. By downloading games through GamesClub, users will benefit from what is probably one of the most innovative services in the mobile games sector, instead of offering a one price fits all service where users have to pay for individual pieces of content.
The telecommunications industry in India is also ready to think outside the box and build applications in favour of the new technology in town. It's time our users get ready for a new technological revolution which is going to make the mobile handset more than a voice communications device.