Loop Mobile, one of the oldest telecom operators in Mumbai, has announced the launch of a free Email to SMS service, and also video content priced at Rs. 0.10 per video. The push based email to SMS service, interestingly, tries to tie their subscribers to loop based email addresses, for example, to 9821XXXXXX@loopmail.in, and targets customers without email addresses or GPRS. This service is free for a year, and could probably have helped Loop retain subscribers who might have been considering a switch with Mobile Number Portability having been launched in India. Video Content The more interesting service launch, though, is with Loop providing video content to its subscribers, priced at only Rs. 0.10 per video. At the time of filing this story, Loop has not commented on its video catalog size or which content providers it has partnered with; also, we haven't been able to ascertain whether data charges will apply over and above the Rs. 0.10/video. What a Loop representative has told us, though, is that there is no subscription fee for the video content, and it is not advertising supported. Then how can they afford this pricing? The videos are available at http://atcafe.loopmobile.in. We'll update with more details, in case Loop Mobile shares specific responses to our queries.
