Netflix tests cheaper mobile-only plan for India: Report

Netflix has become a fairly household name in India after many meme-worthy originals like Sacred Games. And now that Netflix is looking to expand further into India, reports have emerged describing Netflix’s strategy to introduce cheaper plans for the country. In what could be good news for Netflix fans and streamers, these reports come four months after Netflix CEO Reed Hastings previously clarified in an interview with news agency Reuters that they are not so keen on introducing cheaper for their Indian consumers.

According to ET, Netflix is currently testing a mobile-only subscription with select users. The monthly plan costs Rs 250, which is half of the current base plan in India: Rs 500. By reducing the price by 50 per cent, Netflix shall cut down on a user’s ability to stream its content on desktop computers. Apparently, the video-streaming platform has two clear benefits in this: One, Netflix gets more users and two, it gets more users on its mobile apps, which will further help the company strengthen its position in India against competitors like Hotstar and Amazon Prime video.

READ | Netflix finally brings smart downloads feature to iPhone and iPad

The report further notes that the mobile-only tier will be separate from Netflix’s existing monthly plans. Currently, Netflix has three plans to offer to Indians: Rs 500, Rs 650 and Rs 800. All these plans associate with different benefits. The Rs 500 plan allows users to download or stream videos on a single device. The Rs 650 plan is restricted to two screens while the Rs 800 that allows up to four users to simultaneously download or stream videos.

The Rs 250 mobile-only plan, however, is said to allow Netflix subscribers to stream standard definition (SD content) on a single mobile or tablet screen at a time. Netflix happens to be the costliest among all. However, Netflix told the reporters that these plans are only in tests right now and they may never make it to the consumers. So right now, there seems to be so much that we don’t know yet and it remains to be seen how this strategy plays out for the company in the not-so-distant future.