The Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS) make a significant share in non-voice revenue in the Indian telecom sector. The MVAS are considered as growth drivers, source of revenue and key differentiators at the time when the industry is facing a sluggish growth due to decline in minutes of use per connection per month, average revenue per user per month, intense competition, and fall in voice tariffs. The present study is an attempt to analyze customer satisfaction for MVAS by using parametric and non-parametric test procedures. M-Commerce, M-Education, M-Health and M-Entertainment have been identified as important determinants that affect customer satisfaction in MVAS. Multiple regression analysis has been used to predict the customer satisfaction and also examine the relative importance of each determinant in affecting the customer satisfaction. Validity, assumptions and generalization of results have also been examined so as to make inferences about the population.

The Indian mobile market is one of the fastest growing markets and is forecasted to reach 868.47 million users by 2013 as the number of wireless subscribers rose from 261.07 million in 2005 to 584.32 million in 2007 (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India – TRAI Annual Report, 2011). The overall growth rate in teledensity also rose from 7% in 2003 to 53% in 2010. In spite of the robust growth seen in the Indian telecom industry in the last two decades, the industry has been facing a sluggish growth for the last five years due to decline in Minutes of Use per connection per month (MOU) and Average Revenue Per User per month (ARPU). The MOU went down from 465 minutes in 2007 to 369 minutes in 2010, whereas ARPU declined from 362 in 2005 to 100 in 2011 for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and from 256 to 66 for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) (Cellular Operators Association of India – COAI Report, 2011). Intense competition among the major telecom operators in the country has led to a fall in the voice tariffs and consequently resulted in lowering of the revenues of telecom market (Chen and Cheng, 2010). At a time when the industry is facing a steep fall in voice tariffs, Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS) are considered as growth drivers, source of revenue and key differentiators (Kuo and Chen, 2006). Hence, it is imperative for marketers to analyze customers’ preferences and satisfaction of MVAS, as they have a huge impact on the customers’ usage pattern, and open a pathway for service providers to become significant differentiators across the operators by inculcating innovation in services. The Indian MVAS are forecasted to reach 48,000 crores by 2015 with an annual growth rate of 28%, from the current size of 12,000 crores (ASSOCHAM, 2011). Trends in mobile phone penetration, continuous growth in teledensity, need for differentiations in telecom services, increasing consumer demand and awareness, and advances in information and communication technology act as drivers for uninterrupted growth of MVAS in the country. High quality Value-Added Services (VAS) should be contemplated by marketers by analyzing customer satisfaction and preferences with an aim to sustain profitability in the telecom sector in a highly competitive scenario (Chen and Aritejo, 2008).

Marketing Management Journal, Predicting, Customer Satisfaction, The Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS), Application of Multiple Regression, M-Commerce, M-Education, M-Health, M-Entertainment, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).