We’ve got news from India that Airtel will be piloting an ad funded CRBT project in July with a 5000 to 10000 customer base. In a regular Ring back tone scenario, a user pays a fixed subscription fee for the CRBT service and an incremental charge in case of changing his ring back tone. The fixed fee ranges from USD 0.70 per month to free depending on plan while the song costs approximately USD 0.30 per change.

The mobile operator is proposing to embed an Ad in place of the user selected song. The user will get an undisclosed revenue share from the advertisement placed with possible performance filters added in case the playthrough exceeds the regular 10-12 seconds. It might enable interactivity, like in case the listener presses *  to copy the ring back tone, to know more about a particular advertisement.

Wireless Federation’s Mobile Advertising and Ad-funded services report has a detailed scenario that explains how this can be done and what an operator can expect from a service of this nature. Interestingly, Airtel in India has already acquired this report from us.

The Mobile Operator, besides knowing average revenue per user, knows everything from call-duration, peak traffic hours and frequently dialed numbers that makes the profiled base a very attractive buy for an advertiser. India has over 95% of the mobile population using pre-paid or pay-as-you-go connections and with MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and further reduction in tariffs just round the corner, services and initiatives such as these will go a long way in getting loyalty from the user base and thus reducing churn!

To know more about the Wireless Federation’s Ad-funded services report, email Christina (@) WirelessFederation (dot) com

Source: ContentSutra India