The Hindu Business Line : WorldSpace hikes annual subscription by 50 pc

Explaining the rationale behind the move, Mr Deepak Varma, Managing Director, told Business Line: "Actually, this is our right price. Rs 1,200 was just an invitation price. We are now offering 39 premium quality channels. It involves a lot of money. Moreover, we have drawn up a big roadmap to go national. It will not be fair if we revise it a couple of months after the nation-wide launch. So, we thought it would be appropriate to charge the right price at this juncture."

Early this month, WorldSpace launched its services in the Capital.

According to Mr Varma, the company is planning the Mumbai launch by August.

"We are planning to cover Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Pune before September."

WorldSpace launched its services in India in 2001. In mid-2002, it launched a couple of pay channels and simultaneously converted some of its channels into pay mode, charging Rs 600 a year.

In 2004, it turned all its channels into pay channels for Rs 1,200 a year (it offered 30 channels then in total).

On whether the company would revise subscription rates any further, Mr Varma said that though no company can commit such things to paper, "we can say there is no intention to hike the subscription any more in the near future".

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