Nokia, RCom tie-up for premium content

MUMBAI, INDIA: Nokia launched the India chapter of Ovi Store by announcing a strategic tie-up with Reliance Communications (RCom) in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Under the tie-up, RCom subscribers will be the first to get access to 17,000 pieces of premium-range content that includes applications and rich content downloads. The users will be charged for the premium content through integrated billing or the amount will get deducted from prepaid balance.

According to V Ramnath, Nokia India's director - Operator Channels, the first chapter of Indian telecom industry has got over now and the second chapter has begun with the 3G.

“3G will help India to leapfrog into the digital age through Internet, and 3G will provide critical services that will explode in form of rich content, games, videos, Web and application downloads, which will bring more opportunities in India,” said Ramnath.

Commenting on Nokia's Ovi Store India chapter, Ramnath explained that India chapter has begun with a partnership with Reliance Communications, where the users can download premium content and pay the charge through integrated bills.

Currently, Nokia handset users in India can download premium content from the Ovi Store but need to have international credit cards or pay in Euros. Nokia Ovi Store is available across 190-plus countries in 32 languages with the support of 135 devices working on Symbian platform.

Ramnath informed that over 4.5 million downloads happen per week in India and added the FICCI estimates around 90 million downloads by 2030 with a revenue generation close to $15 million.

However, the tie-up will allow RCom subscribers to get access to premium content and download it and also pay in Indian currency at lower price.

“The focus is to deliver top quality customer experience through local and global content with a range of applications (apps), exclusive and rich premium content in Hindi and English through simple and transparent tariff rates,” said Prashant Gokarn, Reliance Communications' 3G head.

“Consumers will get SMS or email alerts for the confirmation of apps download. They can access free trials before downloading the app or service and they will not need credit cards for payments as it will be directly charged with integrated bills,” added Gokarn.

He informed that the pricing of premium content would range between Rs.25 and Rs.500.

However, RCom will only have a three-month exclusive tie-up with Nokia for Ovi Store premium content after which Nokia is likely to partner other operators for similar tie-ups.