SMSCountry Networks bets big on advertising on mobiles

Hyderabad-based SMSCountry Networks Private Ltd, a leading bulk SMS gateway service provider, is betting big on the ever growing market for advertisements on the mobile platform to expand its user base and consequently post higher revenue.

With the scale of advertising on the mobile platform going up drastically over the past couple of years and poised for exponential growth in future, the company intends to cash in on this business opportunity.

Satya Kalyan Yerramsetti, chief executive officer of SMSCountry Networks Private Ltd said, “The size of advertising on the mobile platform is currently estimated at Rs 50-60 crore and this is expected to reach around Rs 400 crore in the next 3-4 years. Today, it is the brand manager's objective to advertise on the mobile platform due to increasing reach of mobile phones”.

He said, the surge in advertisements on the mobile platform is set to come on the back of the foray of cheap mobile handsets, falling tariff, operators offering internet and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) at cheaper rates.

The roll out of 3G services which will enable television viewing on mobile handsets will take this mobile advertisement market to a new level, he added.

Besides, the advertisers can reach more number of users by advertising on the interactive mobile platform and meet their desired objective by incurring only a fraction of the cost, he says.

SMSCountry has a user base of over seven million and it offers free SMS services on the internet and mobile platform through its by-product 160by2.com.

The service is open to all internet users in India and enables free SMS connectivity to mobiles not just within India but also in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Philippines.

The service is also open for mobile phones with GPRS connectivity.

SMSCountry Networks pays the cellular operators for offering the free SMS service and draws its revenue from the companies advertising on the mobile platform.

The company's 160by2.com product works on a business model according to which out of the standard 160 characters allowed for each mobile SMS, 80 characters are for the users for free SMS while the remaining 80 characters are reserved for the advertisers. Yerramsetti said, “Presently, 95 per cent of our business comes from India and we want to consolidate our position in the country. But we have plans to foray into the China market which offers huge scope for the business that we are in and the company intends to open its office in that country within three months.”