MUMBAI: The Mouse has set its price. The two Walt Disney channels, distributed by Star Group in India, will cost Rs 12 a month per subscriber.

The Disney Channel and Toon Disney Channel, to be launched on 17 December, will also form part of Star India's new bouquet along with Star One and Hungama TV.

"We have fixed the bundled price of the two Disney channels at Rs 12," Star India executive vice-president of distribution Tony D'Silva tells indiantelevision.com.

According to information available with indiantelevision.com, the a la carte price of the two channels is Rs 10 each. Star One is priced at Rs 10 while Hungama TV costs Rs 6. The bouquet rate is being worked at.

D'Silva, however, says a final call on the individual price of the two Disney channels will be taken on Monday (13 December). Even the rate of the new bouquet will be fixed then, he adds. Star India's old bouquet of channels include Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World, Star News and National Geographic.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has not allowed the bundling of new channels, which are launched since 26 December, 2003, with the old bouquet. This has led distribution companies like Sony-Discovery and Zee-Turner to pack their new channels in separate bouquets.

With a late distribution agreement with Star Group, Walt Disney has to hurry on the seeding of decoder boxes to ensure a wide reach across the country. The company has set up a regional distribution team to monitor the progress of the channels, but a national head is yet to be announced. Disney officials in India were locked in a series of long meetings with Star executives for over a week to fine tune the distribution strategy in a pay-TV market which is crowded and getting regulated.