Tete-a-Tete

Tell us something about I-Free

i-Free is the leader in the VAS market in Russia and Ukraine. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia. We currently have direct operations in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, India, China, Brazil and Mexico. i-Free is also a founder and a part of UFT (United Fun Traders)

Tell us something about your product offering?

In India we provide content services to Airtel and Reliance. Our community service Jamango is also live on both these operator decks. We will soon begin services on Idea.

You entered the VAS space in India very late, was it a disadvantage?

It was to an extent as it is more difficult to establish yourself as a partner with the operators. Had we been able to come earlier we would have been able to forge stronger partnerships with the operators.

What projects has I-Free been working on?

Our development team sits in Russia and all our development is done there. For the Indian market we are launching products constantly. These include Try and buy games, High Score games, Java Greetings, SMS clients, portals and communities for brands etc.

What are next big drivers for VAS in India? Is it games, videos or something else?

Our view is that traditional products will continue to drive the mobile content market. Music will still rule the roost while Bollywood and cricket will continue to be the biggest drivers. However the big drivers for VAS companies will be mobile marketing and M commerce. There are still some barriers for the growth of these services but they should see a spurt once these barriers are overcome.

Biggies like Rcom and OnMobiles’ first quarter performance was disappointing? Do you feel threatened in a scenario where VAS is still struggling to gain glory?

This could be a result of heightened and unrealistic expectations from the sector. However we feel that the VAS segment is definitely promising and there would be many allied opportunities which arise in the future. The growth might not show the scorching figures of yesteryears as the new subscriber base will principally be from the semi-urban and rural markets. However the industry will continue to show robust growth figures.

Your comments on the adRBT platform

Not only AdRBT but also advergaming, Ad supported SMS and other ad supported content will do well in a market like India. However it will depend on how the product is packaged. Content for self consumption will definitely see heightened activity in the coming years.

Is mobile VAS going to be the main driver for I-Free? Are you‘ll looking at diversifying?

i-Free is focused on providing services in the VAS sector. We see this as our core competence and will be focused on this.