Vodafone Idea (Vi) is intensifying efforts to develop gaming and entertainment as service categories to boost data consumption, which will attract new customers, as the telco expands its 4G network, chief marketing officer Avneesh Khosla has told Moneycontrol.
Vi, the third-largest telecom operator in the country by subscriber base, is also looking to drive monetisation through these digital categories with the help of strategic partnerships, Khosla said.
“Our continuous efforts towards network enhancement have resulted in significantly enhanced data speeds and the availability of affordable data plays a pivotal role in democratising mobile gaming,” Khosla said, adding the telco is also doubling down on its entertainment offering.
The telco expects these initiatives to boost data capacity by 15 percent, attract new 4G customers, and increase the average revenue per user (ARPU), he said.
Vodafone Idea needs all the money it can raise to manage its significant debt, invest in network expansion for 4G and 5G, and meet its operational and financial obligations. The company is burdened by heavy liabilities, including government dues, while facing intense competition from rivals.
Despite the overall decline in its subscriber base due to intense competition and the recent tariff hike, Vodafone Idea's 4G subscriber base grew grow for the 12th consecutive quarter. As of June 30, the company had 126.7 million 4G subscribers, up from 122.9 million on June 30, 2023, an addition of 3.8 million users over the past year.
The total subscriber base stood at 210.1 million. The company has attributed the 4G subscriber base growth to improving network quality and bundled offerings on gaming and content fronts.
Game on
Gaming is one of the critical pillars in Vi’s broader digital content and entertainment strategy, Khosla said. “With encouraging trends in cloud gaming and esports, we are continuously exploring new possibilities in this segment," he said.
On the gaming front, the telco has created a comprehensive mobile gaming platform — Vi Games — which offers a host of premium and free online games across cloud gaming, casual gaming, eSports, AAA games, multiplayer games, etc, that can be played on the Vi App.
In the gaming industry AAA games, or Triple A games, refers to high-budget video games produced and distributed by large. well-known publishers.
Khosla said Vodafone Idea is seeing an upward trend in the “pay-to-play” model for its gaming service. To cater to this growing consumption pattern, it launched a subscription-based, ad-free cloud gaming service, Cloud Play, in partnership with Paris-headquartered CareGame.
“Further, the growth in the pay-to-play model opens up a monetisation opportunity. Industry reports suggest that around 20 percent of gamers in India are paid users, and in-app purchases are projected to grow at the highest rate at around 35 percent CAGR,” he said.
For hardcore gamers, the telco has an esports tournament platform that allows them to engage in competitive gaming with opportunities to build professional esports profiles. It has partnered with Paris-based Team Vitality to boost the eSports ecosystem in India.
“These strategies, combined with our focus on enhancing user experience, are helping us drive our engagement and user growth,” Khosla said.
In just one year, the platform has attracted millions of unique gamers to the hyper-casual games’ portal alone, generating millions of gameplays. The rise of digital payment methods has simplified in-app purchases, enabling a seamless gaming experience, he said.
OTT push
With OTT consumption in India surging and popular platforms seeing increased active users, the telecom operator has expanded its entertainment bouquet to offer a variety of offerings for all its customers across price ranges.
It recently relaunched its OTT content aggregator app Vi Movies & TV and has also launched its integrated proposition, Vi One, which offers customers a “three-in-one” package — fibre broadband connection with unlimited data, prepaid mobile connection and more than 13 OTTs via Vi Movies and TV app, all under one plan.
In August, chief executive officer Akshaya Moondra told analysts that Vodafone Idea will continue to focus disproportionately on building a digital ecosystem with its partners.
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