Mobile operators earned Rs 8,185Cr from caller tunes in 3 years: Report

Mobile operators in India earned a total of Rs 8,185 crore from caller tunes business in three years ending March 2012, with Idea Cellular leading in the pack, according to a report.

Idea earned Rs 2,877 crore, while India's number one mobile operator Bharti Airtel with 186 million subscribers made Rs 2,088 crore from the caller tune sales, according to a report in Business Standard, citing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

With 149 million users, Vodafone India earned Rs 1,521 crore during the period.

DoT's data is based on inputs from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and service providers.

State-owned telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) garnered just Rs 689 crore, followed by Tata Teleservices with Rs 407 crore and Aircel Rs 230 crore.

However, the last 18 months (2011-2013) were not so rosy for telecom firms as far as caller tune revenues were concerned. In the period, the operators saw the number of caller tune subscribers dropping to 55 million from about 100 million. Caller tunes contribute about 20 per cent of the VAS revenue of telcos.

In a recent report, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said that music plays a key role in mobile operators' customer acquisition, branding and engagement strategies, as smartphone adoption rises.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)