State run telecom firm BSNL has decided to offer video-on-demand services to their 2 crore+ customers pan-India. They have announced partnership with Tata Sky to kickstart their operations right away.
Once a BSNL subscriber selects video-on-demand service, then the connectivity and bandwidth shall be provided by BSNL while content would be provided by Tata Sky, who have around 4000 titles available right now on their platform.
On the other hand, Tata Sky, which have 1.1 crore subscribers will get more visibility and branding infront of BSNL customers.
This also marks a first of its kind partnership between a public and private entity for providing a service which is unconventional in India.
BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava said, “We will implement this MoU to cover the entire nation within next six months…VoD has been gaining prominence and this partnership will help both the partners tap into the market better,”
Initial Offer for Customers
Customers of BSNL can get free one month of video on demand service right now, wherein Tata Sky will provide content worth Rs 500 for download. Details haven’t yet emerged regarding their pricing plans for the service.
Interestingly, Netflix has also launched Rs 500/month plan in India.
Video On Demand Picking Steam In India
After the entry of Netflix earlier this year, video on demand market has suddenly become hot in India. Responding to onslaught of Netflix, which is immensely popular in US (Netflixing has become a term in USA!), Zee decided to launch their own video on demand service named Ozee, which is free as of now.
Sensing the growing market for on-demand videos, Reliance Industries led Viacom18 launched their Voot platform for offering video on demand service.
Singapore’s Singtel has also launched their own video on demand service called Hooq, which is available at Rs 199/month.
Youtube, which is perhaps world’s first and biggest video on demand platform on the web, has already launched their Youtube Red platform which is a paid one.
Other prominent players include: Hotstar, SonyLiv, DittoTv, Box TV.
Amazon too is attempting to break into this market, and they are right now negotiating with various content providers for the same.
Television market in India is pegged at Rs 60,000 crore, and overall entertainment and media industry is valued at Rs 1,15,000 crore. These new and upcoming video on demand services are aiming to make a dent in this market; and going by the craze for this service, very soon they would be successful as well.
Do you watch video on demand? Which service do you use? Do let us know by commenting right here!
[…] is surely going to disrupt the market. As BSNL is also going to launch their 4G services & video on demand service, telecom market in India is surely witnessing some major […]
This sounds really cool, but I’m also confused – are Tata Sky going to put their content on the NET? As in, the public internet? Then surely *anybody* with a net connection can see it? Not only BSNL customers? Otherwise it looks like another case of net neutrality being violated to me……?
Also I agree with what Naveen said – if BSNL is the ISP being used, there’s a STRONG chance that the video will stutter….. (just saying that on the strength of being to their office once!) …However let’s give them benefit of doubt before we’ve all *tried* the thing for ourselves…..
It looks a great initiative from Tata Sky and BSNL. If Tata Sky can provide the videos without any interruption then this will be a great idea!
Let’s wait for some more days to see the outcome.