With ever depleting ARPUs, operators now bank on MVAS to register growth in revenues. South Asia and Middle East markets are now seen inkling more towards VAS, reveals a new report from Frost & Sullivan.

Mobile data services as well as range of messaging services such as Peer to Application (P2A) SMS, where mobile subscribers respond to an application such as voting through SMS for a TV program, is on the rise. Mobile Entertainment segment remains one of the most significantly contributing markets in the region.

According to Lavanya Palani Batcha, Industry Analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East, "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."

India’s VAS market is expected to grow by 16.6% between 2008 to 2015. Matching India will be its neighbour Pakistan with a 16.8% growth rate.

Saudi Arabia will witness 10.6% growth rate while UAE market will record 11.9% growth rate, says the research. Egypt will manage a healthy 14.1% growth rate

The entry of new 3G services will further augment the growth of VAS in this region, concludes the research.