"Mobile voice services has become a commodity market and service providers are looking at value added services for differentiating their services.

There is also a shift in traffic expected from voice to non-voice services and this is where a product like mChat has potential," Mr Milind Agnihotri, MD & CEO, iSolv said.mChat is being positioned as a fun and entertainment application with youth as a main target. Offering private chat rooms for corporates will also be an important market. "This product will help the operators enhance experience of the existing subscribers and attract new customers into their fold," Mr Agnihotri said. As it is developed using the SMS technology, mChat will be affordable to the youth segment.

To increase stickiness of the product, iSolv has launched mWallet which poses questions to the chat room users and correct answers leads to points which can be accumulated and redeemed at retail outlets. For this we will be tying up with FMCG companies who are keen on building their brand among the youth, Mr Agnihotri said.

Founded by Agnihotri and Mr Sumeet Phadnis, iSolv was initially angel funded. Venture fund was infused by iNestor India Venture Fund, a Mumbai-based fund, promoted by Mr Dhananjay Mungale and Mr Saurav Sonthalia.mChat offers users Internet chat experience on their mobile phones. mChat conceals the identity and number of the user, offers unlimited topics and chat rooms and works across different networks. A user can send a public message or a private message in the chat room, create a private chat room.