After SMS, ringtones have become the most widely used value-added application for mobiles, says this Financial Express story.

With around 20-25% of India’s 56 million mobile subscribers paying to have caller ring-back tones and ringtones, and with a monthly growth rate of 20-25%, according to industry estimates, they have become one of the most popular applications. “More and more subscribers are ready to pay Rs 30 per month for caller ringback tones with Rs 15 for the initial download payment and Rs 9 for each ringtone download,” said a Kolkata-based spokesperson for Airtel.

If the statistics given by mobile operators are to be believed, Reliance users download 7.5 lakh tones per day and Airtel users 3.5 lakh. The numbers show that value-added services are maturing. After the popular SMS, ringtones have become the most widely used value-added application.