Telco apps emerging as one-stop destinations in India: Report

Telco apps emerging as one-stop destinations in India: Report

Telco apps emerging as one-stop destinations in India: Report

Telco apps

MUMBAI: The newest trend in the world digital content consumption, is the emergence of telco apps as one stop shops for users. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) report quoted by Bloomberg Quint, Indians have shown a tendency to use apps like Jio TV, Jio Cinema, Airtel Wynk instead of downloading individual over-the-top (OTT) streaming apps.

Among all the offerings from the data disruptor Jio, the live television streaming app Jio TV was the most used. Even Airtel’s Airtel TV app has clocked over 10 million downloads since its launch. Other than Jio TV, Jio Music and Jio Cinema also managed to capture the imagination of Indian users.

Among the BofAML 1,000 consumers surveyed by BofAML, Jio recorded the highest number of users. The objective of the study was to document data consumption patterns. It found that 76 per cent users use mobile data to watch online videos, while 68 per cent download and save them

The online content viewing numbers have increased exponentially, with 30 per cent of users breaching their daily limit of 1/1.5 GB almost regularly.

Among the video streaming platforms, YouTube continues to hold its sway with consumers, with 58 per cent of them using the platform. 38 per cent viewed content on Hotstar, with ZEE5 and Eros being used by 2 per cent and 1per cent respectively.

"We consider this as a new emerging theme in India and expect content companies to be beneficiaries of the telco price wars. However, given the nascent stage of the market, we don't see a clear "winner" currently in the OTT space," read the BofAML report.

The findings of the study also indicated that cord-cutting may not disrupt the Indian television industry anytime soon, as monthly cable bills (200-400) continue to be significantly lower than what decent broadband connections cost.

Also read: Reliance Jio to soon launch 5G services: all you need to know

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