Exclusive: BSNL to partner with Hotstar and Netflix

Interview with BSNL, CMD, Anupam Shrivastava

After joining hands with Amazon to offer Prime Membership, State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is all set to partner with two other leading digital content providers- Hotstar and Netflix. The CMD of BSNL told us in an exclusive interview.

"We are tying up with both and within a fortnight we will announce our partnership with Netflix," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava informed Gizbot.

He said, "We are in discussion with Hotstar also and we will announce that within the next one-half month."

On being asked about the revenue expectation, he replied, "We are thinking to cross Rs.30,000 crore by the end of this financial year which seems little tough because revenue went down as there is so much competition."

Meanwhile, the telco has also announced its partnership with Call2Action Communication India to offer telecom subscribers reward points if they allow advertisements to appear on their phones via SMS and calls.

BSNL will make this new application available to BSNL customer and non-BSNL customers to download from the Google Play store.

In addition to that customer can earn attractive rewards after registering for the service. The service delivers interactive advertising and promotion content to mobile phones during routine everyday interactions such as calls, SMS, alerts, notifications, beacons, and other location-based interactions.

The service also provides IP based calling and Messaging services using the single interface, BSNL said.

Furthermore, the revenue will be shared between the telecom operator, consumer (in form of reward points), and Call2Action.

If BSNL managed to get the leading digital content providers on-board, the end-users on BSNL network can expect some affordable plans for digital content. The partnership can create a good competition in the market because private players like Airtel and Vodafone are already offering some really exciting bundled services to mobile users in India.