Netflix in India: A Brand New Technology
Netflix announces its launch in India. Co- founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings said, “It is one of the cross-platform video streaming service through which users can watch content on screens from smartphones to a smart television”. The video streaming service works with various devices such as Smart TV platforms and Microsoft Xbox. Moreover, Netflix is also offering a one-month free trial package where people can select between any of the three monthly packages i.e. Basic, Standard and Premium.
Pricing Options:
For India, Netflix has the same pricing compared to its US market. If you sign up using your PC, you will get three options- 500 Rs (Basic) and with basic plan you can watch movies and shows one time on a single screen. Basic plan allows streaming in SD (Standard definition) For 650 per month (Standard) you can access to two simultaneous screens. For 800 Rs (Premium) and this plan allow streaming in UHD (Ultra-high Definition). The first month is free for all users. Further, for payment, you can pay using a credit card and PayPal. $1(70 Rs) is charged during signup to authenticate the card as an initial fee. Netflix standard subscribers now pay $8.88 per month, not much more than the Rs 600 base price in India. In contrary, the best plan for Indians seems to be the 650/month because there are very few devices in the market those supports Ultra HD video.
Content:
At the time of signup process, you have to specify if you are above 18 and this means there is not going to be censored content as everything will be rated. Though during profile creation Netflix lets you identify children so that they don’t get access to any adult content. Talking about local Indian content, there are some Bollywood movies included such as Lootera, Piku, Youngistaan, Heropanti and even some classic movies such as Hum Apke Hai Kaun, Shor in the city and Andaaz Apna Apna. Still then, the streaming giant seems to be going for balancing the international and local content. After knowing its popularity the company may crack some deals in terms of content as the Netflix just entered the Indian market.
Before taking this video streaming application, you should also know you can’t download any of the video on the service as the streaming an HD movie can take up as much as 3GB. Ensure you broadband plans offers big data cap for its fair usage policy. For smooth streaming 5MBPs connection is suggested by Netflix. If that’s not the case then maybe, Netflix could be an expensive plan for you.
In India, broadband speed is the only issue. Cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore do have good internet speeds, but most parts of India still suffer with low broadband issue. This can be a challenge for the company to grasp a firm ground in India.
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