STAR India has created a separate division for mobile - STAR Mobile Entertainment - which plans to invest around Rs. 50-60 crore in the space, and an additional Rs.10-15 crore on promotions, reports Business Standard. Star Mobile Entertainment has tied up with Hutch, Idea, BSNL, MTNL and Spice for the the launch of PLUS by April-end. The service will be initially free of charge, and after a one month trial, it’ll be priced at Rs. 30 per month, with data charges applicable.
Viren Popli, Sr. VP Wireless Interactive for STAR has told ContentSutra that the platform is intended to be an independent one, and I’m wondering if anyone apart from STAR is on board yet. From what we’ve heard, other media companies are developing their own such applications; then again - how many such applications can one expect a consumer to download? In that context, it perhaps makes sense to be the first.
It seems from the report that Airtel isn’t on board yet; those working on such mobile applications would interested to learn that Airtel’s “Net On Phone”, pay-per-use GPRS service, doesn’t allow third party applications, including STAR. At least, that’s what customer-care told me.