12 million Indian Mobile TV users to subscribe in first year of launch

Thats what the report suggests in its recently released report – mobile TV in India – by Springboard research. I am not surprised given that India boasts currently boasts around 250 million mobile subscribers and expected to reach 500 million by end of this decade.

Mobile TV is a technology that allows people to view regular live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices that they get through traditional cable or pay TV subscriptions at home.

Here are some of the highlights of the research:

• Predicts 12 million subscribers to use Mobile TV service in the first year of launch
• 84% of mobile phone users interested in using Mobile TV Service provided it is commonly available and affordable
• Mobile phone to remain the central multi-purpose device, outnumbering any other mobile devices like digital media players and pocket PCs.

I would personally go in for it myself, if the subscription costs are affordable (in the range of Rs. 500 p.m). The possibilities are tremendous. Getting up-to-date news on the go, watching a live cricket match when you are out or even following the stock market minute by minute. WOW !

I bet the service will be quite popular. The big question however is the pricing, which in turns depends on how much it will cost the mobile services provider. Most of the providers are already having plans to launch the services by the end of this year.

This will also be a boon for high end mobile handset manufacturers as most of the users will upgrade their handsets specifically to get mobile TV on their handsets.

As of today, only Doordarshan offers limited mobile TV service, however, understandably the service has not caught on, given the pathetic programs offered on Doordarshan. Also, Mobile telephone operators will have an advantage over standalone mobile TV operators (like Doordarshan) in that the former already have users subscribing to their value-added services. The success however, will be dependent on content offered and price charged for the service

According to the report, 84% of mobile phone users are interested in using Mobile TV service provided the service is commonly available and affordable. Close to 60% of these will prefer watching the same content that they get on TV at home. News, sports, music videos and Game shows were the four dominant types of content that the surveyed users will prefer watching on mobile TV. These findings are based on a survey conducted among 1,215 mobile users in six major Indian cities by Springboard Research.

“A majority of mobile users in India are interested in trying out mobile TV and would invest in new handsets for using the service. This willingness is definitely a positive sign for those considering offering mobile TV in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile services market,” said Ravi Shekhar Pandey.[source]

Would you go in for mobile TV if the prices are kept in the range of Rs. 500 per month?