|
|
|
The 3GSM World Congress held at Barcelona,
Spain, in February 2007 marked the entry of the Indian film
industry (popularly known as Bollywood) into the Global Systems
for Mobile (GSM) communication arena.
At this event, Bollywood showcased its first film specially
created for mobile phone users across the world. This move was
seen as yet another step towards enriching the mobile experience
of users.
|
Bollywood's foray into the mobile entertainment
market also marked the emergence of the mobile phone from merely a
communication device to becoming a major source of entertainment.
Since early 2000s, analysts felt that the mobile phone had emerged as
the 'fourth screen' as these devices came with advanced technology that
enabled Internet browsing, distribution of audio-visual content such as mobisodes, and even short movies specially created for mobile phone
users.
This was expected to have a huge impact on the global mobile phone
market (estimated at US$ 23 billion in 2007) as well as the media
industry, they said.
The movie showcased at the 3GSM World Congress – Dus Kahaniyaan (10
stories) – was part of the Bollywood's initiative to create short movies
tailored for mobile devices. It was produced by one of the leading
Bollywood producers Sanjay Gupta (Gupta).
Gupta's entry in the mobile entertainment market was supported by GSM
Association1 (GSMA), Roamware
Inc.2
(Roamware), and Hungama Mobile3
(Hungama), as the partners saw tremendous potential in Bollywood movies.
According to Bobby Srinivasan, CEO and Chairman, Roamware, "Bollywood
today is the world's largest movie industry, producing more than a
thousand movies a year with an audience of more than two billion viewers
across 127 countries. Formatting that content for the mobile audience
and ensuring simplicity of delivery and accessibility provides
staggering reach and revenue possibilities."4
While Roamware helped in integrating the film content into the mobile
phone through its "Media Call" technology, Hungama helped in publishing
the mobile phone content. Hungama's experience in content publishing
coupled with Roamware's global reach could provide an impetus to the
budding mobile entertainment market, according to analysts.
Leading mobile handset companies such as Nokia Corporation (Nokia) also
geared up to take advantage of the growing attractiveness of the mobile
entertainment market. In late 2007, Nokia entered into an agreement with
leading Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for making movie clips, ring
tones, wallpapers for his film, 'Om Shanti Om' (OSO).
Bob McDougall (McDougall), Director Sales, Nokia India, said, "Mobile
entertainment is a key pillar of our strategy and is poised to drive the
mobility industry in a big way.
Through this tie up, we will bring alive our
vision of combining internet and mobility to provide consumer an
enhanced media rich mobile experience.
|
1] GSMA is an association of 700 mobile phone
operators providing GSM facilities spanning across 218 countries across the
world.
2] Roamware Inc. is a leading provider of
value-added voice and data roaming solutions.
3] Hungama Mobile is one of the leading mobile
entertainment companies in South Asia.
4] "Bollywood Goes Mobile," www.gsmworld.com,
February 12, 2007. |
