It has come to our knowledge that Netflix is currently testing out a mobile-only subscription plan. The tests are being conducted in “select countries”, one of which is India. The plan is also only intended for those countries and is expected to be around $3.63/month.
Netflix is one of the largest, if not the largest, online streaming service. It is based in the USA and hosts a titanic collection of movies, TV shows and documentaries that you can watch via a monthly subscription. Its current subscription rates are $8.99, $12.99 and $15.99 for the Basic, Standard, and Premium packages respectively.
Now, this isn’t exactly the most expensive subscription service out there, especially the Basic one. However, in third-world countries like India, not everyone can afford even that. That’s where the new plan comes into play. With an even cheaper rate of $3.63 per month, this new plan is intended to ensure the accessibility of high-quality content for the masses.
A spokesperson from Netflix said, “We are always looking for ways to make Netflix more enjoyable and accessible. We will be testing different options in select countries, where members can, for example, watch Netflix on their mobile device for a lower price and subscribe in shorter increments of time”.
Other than India, we do not know what other “select countries” are yet. We assume they will be countries with an economic status similar to that of India. However, what we do know is that this will exclusively be for the mobile platform only. Other than that, another interesting revelation from the spokesperson is the idea of subscribing for “shorter increments of time”.
This means that users will be able to subscribe to a weekly or even bi-weekly plans rather than paying monthly. This can greatly affect its affordability to people who won’t use it that often. You can pay for a week you want to watch something rather than the whole month. Then you can pay again when you want to watch something again, whenever that may be.
In my opinion, this is a brilliant move by Netflix. It not only expands its accessibility to the more people but also ensures that more people will choose cheap licensed content rather than resorting to piracy. With subscription rates that are half that of their current cheapest package, this will surely be popular once it comes out. It’s a shame it won’t be available worldwide. But here’s to hoping, it turns out to be successful and Netflix decides to give it to the rest of the world.