Tata Teleservices has inked an exclusive deal with Apalya for offering live streaming of the Asia Cup Cricket tournament currently taking place in Sri Lanka, for Tata Indicom and Tata DoCoMo. Apalya also has partnerships with Virgin Mobile and MTS for streaming TV channels content, and this exclusive agreement with Tata Teleservices means that MTS and Virgin Mobile subscribers on the mobile would not get to watch the matches. Also worth noting is the fact that it’s being offered on Tata’s GSM service Tata DoCoMo.
For Tata Photon Plus customers, the service is priced at Rs. 5 per match, Rs. 25 for the entire tournament, and available without subscription fees for Tata Photon TV on Mobile (LG 510, Samsung Corby, Samsung M519 Metro and Blackberry 9630 handsets). The pain point for Tata DoCoMo customers: the browsing is priced at Rs. 0.01p/KB in home network and Rs. 0.1/10KB while on off net roaming.
VuClip Provides Mobile Video Clips To TTSL; Plans Video Streaming
VuClip is powering “The Asia Cup Portal” for Tata Teleservices, which will have videos of match highlights, wickets, fours and sixes. Now the thing about VuClip is that it repurposes video on the fly based on the users handset, and allowing all types of handsets to download and view the content; data charges will apply according to the data plan selected by the user.
Additionally, TelecomYatra reports that VuClip now intends to get into the Video Streaming game, thereby competing head-on with Apalya. From what we understand from content owners, not many, if at all, of the deals involving mobile streaming of TV channels inked by Apalya are exclusive deals. Which means that this now comes down to a technology and distribution battle between VuClip and Apalya, and maybe others like Zynga and Geodesic owned Mundu TV, for a market that is only going to show traction if 3G and Broadband Wireless Access prices are rationalized, and there is a large enough subscriber base for the services.
Our take is that there is a market here for a mobile video ad network, because in order to achieve any kind of scale, the streaming will have to be free. Which explains why VDOPIA launched its iVDOPIA ad network in India this early. Expect more competition there as well, even if media agencies say that we still have four-five years
Related:
– Tata Photon Plus Launched For Mobile Handsets; 3G
– Apalya Powers MTS TV On EVDO; Corby TV & Metro TV With Samsung
– July Systems Expects Double Digit Million Revenues; Equity Deal With GCV
– Apalya Gets IPL 3 Global Mobile Live Streaming Rights For 3 Years; Subscription vs Advertising
– Apalya Launches Mobile TV On Virgin’s VFlash; Tendulkar’s Double Ton
– Updated: Tata Tele Launches Photon TV; Extra Charges For Cricket Matches
– Apalya CEO Vamshi Reddy On Plans For 3G, Mobile Video Biz Models And More
