Aircel has now launched BookMate, its very own e-book store. Users can now browse through its massive catalog of books and take their pick. Apart from books, it also has a large selection of magazines and comics, which can be downloaded on their smartphones, tablets and PCs.
The company has confirmed that they will stock fiction and non-fiction bestsellers, magazines, comics, biographies, classics, children's stories, reference books and more. The service will be available on WAP, Web and Android, with an iOS app coming in the near future.
To access the service,users will require an Aircel number for registration. Subscribers can choose between a monthly membership scheme, where they will receive Aircel BookMate points on a montly basis or a one time point purchase scheme. These points can be used to buy everything from books, magazine and comics. Unused points will accumulate and can be used in the following month.
Subscribers can pick from three monthly plan options of Rs 25 (for 50 Bookmate points), Rs 50 (for Bookmate 100 points), and Rs 100 (for 200 Bookmate points).
With this new service, Aircel will take on industry giants like Amazon.in, Google Play Store, the iOS Book Store and even domestic players like Flipkart.com, all of whom of their own variation of the ebook retail.
While there's nothing special about Airtel's offering, we're rather excited about what Flipkart's coming up with. The company has joined forces with a leading publishing and distribution platform, Smashwords, to bring its entire catalog of free and paid e-books to Flipkart users.
