Cellnext plans to offer Newspaper Content On Mobile
At the IMC 2006 yesterday, I’d asked the panelists discussing digital content why they aren’t looking at mobile phones for content delivery, since it is a potent distribution channel for textual content. Sreekant Khandekar, CEO Banyan Netfaqs said that the screen size is an issue, and Shailesh Shekhar, editor, Hindustantimes.com said that they already have a wap portal.
Now, Business Standard reports that Cellnext Solutions Ltd. intends to provide m-paper services to users. They’re doing a pilot run with Idea Cellular, full with images, text and (gasp!) even audio. Ajay Vaishnavi, CEO of Cellnext is quoted as saying that
The Economic Times and the Times of India have mobile editions, which are available on http://mobile.economictimes.com and http://mobile.timesofindia.com. They offer both news paper content as well as live updates. In fact ET mobile site allows access to Portfolio Tracker, Stock Quotes and Stock Charting as well. These are browser based sites and require GPRS connection for access. The best its FREE, atleast for now.
Right, but are they pushing it? It's one thing to give it free, but for monetizing it with advertising, they need users. I don't see BCCL pushing their mobile properties like they did with Indiatimes.