Idea announces the launch of Digital Idea, a digital services platform

Idea Cellular has announced the launch of ‘Digital Idea’, a digital services platform to provide digital content to its users at a launch event in Mumbai. The company detailed that this marks its move from a telecommunication network provider to an Open Architecture IT services provider. Idea further pointed out that as part of the digital push, the company is increasing its capacity by about 20 times. It announced 3 apps, Idea Music Lounge, Idea Movie Club and Idea Game Spark.

Managing Director for Idea Cellular, Himanshu Kapania detailed that Idea will enter the entertainment market with the help of these three apps. In addition to these apps, the company will enter VoIP and IM market to concentrate communication, VoLTE and digital payments services. Further, Kapania adds that the company will start offering cloud services for users to store their files and digital magazines to provide information and news.

One important thing to note here is that the company will open its APIs for developers to make use of Idea’s billing services for prepaid and postpaid services in addition to the payment gateway. The company is working to create new partnerships to leverage the developer community in India. One interesting thing to note is that Idea will provide an ‘Introductory Offer’ giving free access to the apps for 90 days from the day you download the app. However, you need to download the app by 31 March to take the benefit of the ‘Introductory Offer’.

The company is aiming to create a ‘one-stop entertainment destination initially for Idea subscribers, providing access’ for popular and premium content curated by the company across different regional languages. Kapania adds, “Having committed significant investments in building a world-class wireless broadband network in the country, Idea has decided to enhance its portfolio of services. With the birth of ‘Digital Idea’, the company is gearing itself for catering to the growing population of mobile users who consume digital content on their mobile devices. Our vision for ‘Digital Idea’ is based on the concept of ‘Digital Inclusion’ rather than disruption – natural extension of Idea transforming consumer.”

Idea Music Lounge offers about 2 million songs and will soon increase its library to offer 20 million music tracks to its subscribers. The app will include music across 14 different languages and include features like ‘DJ Mode’, ‘Wake Up Mode’ and ‘Dynamic Lyrics.’ Music Lounge in addition to all other apps will be provided using a subscription model and the price will not include the data charges for the data consumed while using the app. The monthly subscription charges for the app are Rs 49 at the time of writing after the Introductory Offer.

Ideal Movie Club will offer about 400 blockbuster movies in addition to over 90 live television channels. The app also allows 7-day catch-up TV along with plans for original content and short videos. The Movie Club app will be available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store. The subscription charges for Idea Movie Club app will be Rs 49 per month as part of the Digital Idea Services platform.

Last but not the least, Idea Game Spark is a curated collection of mobile games from all over the world with 1,500 games available at the launch that are aimed at the casual gamer. Game Spark serves like an app store for games developed by developers partnering with Idea. The app store will also offer Virtual Reality games to serve the people who are interested in experiencing VR games and content. The subscription charges for Game Spark will be Rs 29 per month after the ‘Introductory Offer’.

Sunil Tolani, National Head for Digital, Idea, added, “Digital Entertainment services is just the beginning. Idea will, in the immediate future, also expand its digital offerings into digital communication, digital payments, cloud & storage, digital information and many more. Best in class digital Consumer Experience, Collaboration with Indian & Global Partners, developer eco-system and Co-Existence rather than competition with the Physical, will be the key building blocks.” In addition , the company is planning to expand its 4G services to 9 more circles by March 2017 to cover about 90 percent of the country.