Netflix Tests New Mobile-Only Plans With Select Indian Subscribers

The mobile-only plan will be a single screen, standard definition (SD) plan which will only work on a mobile device.

(Photo: AP)

Streaming platform Netflix is testing a separate mobile-only subscription plan for select users in India, in order to expand its user base in the country.

The mobile-only plan will cost Rs 250 per month, which is half of Netflix's cheapest Rs 500 subscription plan. The mobile subscription will allow users to watch only standard definition (SD) content on a single mobile or tablet at a time.

The Rs 250 plan will be a single screen, standard definition plan which will only work on a mobile device.(Photo: Screengrab)

A Netflix spokesperson told The Economic Times that they will be testing different options for select countries to allow users to watch content on their mobile device for a lower cost.

The spokesperson also said that this plan will not be available for everyone and that there is a chance that these plans may never roll out beyond testing.

Netflix had tested a similar subscription plan in Malaysia in November 2018. Chief Product Officer Greg Peters had earlier said they will be experimenting with their pricing to grow its user base in India.

India is a key market for Netflix. The company opened a new office in Mumbai, along with picking up 1.5 lakh square-feet of office space, the ET report said.

Currently, Netflix has made 12 original series and 12 movies in India.

In other news, there are reports of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings saying that the company could redesign Netflix's user interface, to make it look more like a magazine-like layout, going away from the small boxes layout the website currently features.

The same report however, quotes the company's vice president of Product and Studio Design as saying that he thinks the classic Netflix grid won't fundamentally change.

(With inputs from The Economic Times and Mobile Syrup.)