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Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday launched the Prime Video Mobile Edition, a single-user, mobile-only plan at an introductory price of ₹89 a month in India. India is the first country in which the over-the-top platform is offering a mobile-only plan.
“Powered by affordable data, the ubiquitous smartphone has become the country’s preferred screen for entertainment,” the OTT platform said in a statement. The plan provides SD quality streaming to customers which is created especially for a mobile-first country like India, it added.
Prime Video is collaborating with Bharti Airtel for the first roll-out.
In July 2019, Netflix had launched a mobile plan for India at ₹199 a month, in a bid to make its services more affordable. To be sure, Indians spend 30 per cent of their phone time — and over 70 per cent of their mobile data — on entertainment, according to a FICCI-EY 2019 report.
Entertainment content
Jay Marine, Vice-President, Amazon Prime Video Worldwide, said: “India is one of our fastest growing territories in the world with very high engagement rates. Buoyed by this response, we want to double-down by offering our much-loved entertainment content to an even larger base of Indian customers.”.
“Given high mobile broadband penetration in the country, the mobile phone has become one of the most widely used streaming devices. With the launch of Prime Video Mobile Edition we look forward to entertaining every Indian with our exclusive and original content,” added Marine.
Offer for Airtel customers
As a part of the launch, all Airtel customers on bundled pre-paid packs can avail a 30-day free trial by signing up to Amazon from the Airtel Thanks app using their mobile number. After the 30-day-free trial, Airtel customers can use Prime Video Mobile Edition through pre-paid recharges starting at an introductory offer of ₹89, to get 28-days of Prime Video Mobile Edition along with 6GB data. Or, they can choose a ₹299 pack of 28-day validity, that includes the Prime Video Mobile Edition along with unlimited calls, data access of 1.5 GB per day, the company said.
“The Internet penetration in India is largely through mobile phones as Internet access in India is mostly through mobile phones. DSL broadband connections at home are far lesser in comparison. The mobile-only OTT service will, therefore, immensely boost viewership of these platforms. With attractive pricing and a decent marketing push, mobile-only OTT is likely to be a game-changer,” Giraj Sharma, founder-director of Behind the Moon, a brand consultancy, told BusinessLine.
Airtel users can watch Prime Video on their mobile by choosing other options, too. At a recharge of ₹131, they can get Amazon Prime membership for 30 days with full Prime Video access, free fast shipping and unlimited ad-free music. At a recharge of ₹349 pre-paid bundle, they can get Amazon Prime membership with full Prime Video access, free fast shipping and unlimited ad-free music along with unlimited calling and 2GB per day for 28 days
Customers can purchase these pre-paid packs on the Airtel Thanks app or at Airtel stores across India, the company said.
Over the last four years, viewership of Amazon Prime Video has come from over 4,300 towns and cities, said Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager, Amazon Prime Video India. “We believe that the Mobile Edition plan will further accelerate Prime Video’s adoption in India and allow an even larger number of customers to access our popular entertainment content,” he added.
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