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Avalue-added service (VAS) is a populartelecommunications industry[1] term for non-core services, or, in short, all services beyond standardvoice calls andfax transmissions. However, it can be used in any service industry, for services available at little or no cost, topromote their primary business. In the telecommunications industry, on a conceptual level, value-added servicesadd value to thestandard service offering, spurring subscribers to use their phone more and allowing the operator to drive up theiraverage revenue per user. For mobile phones, technologies likeSMS,MMS anddata access were historically usually considered value-added services, but in recent years SMS, MMS and data access have more and more become core services, and VAS therefore has begun to exclude those services.
Mobile VAS services can be categorized into:
A distinction may also be made between standard (peer-to-peer) content and premium-charged content. These are called mobile value-added services (MVAS), which are often simply referred to as VAS.
Value-added services are supplied either in-house by themobile network operator themselves or by a third-party value-added service provider, also known as a content provider such asAll Headline News orReuters.
Value-added service providers typically connect to the operator using protocols likeShort message peer-to-peer protocol, connecting either directly to theshort message service centre or, increasingly, to a messaginggateway that gives the operator better control of the content. Several other operators are approaching banking on possible revenue streams by building value-added services (VAS), which is generally available with rewards-based schemes.