Reliance will offer music downloads, ringtones, caller tunes
and streaming radio of Universal’s content for monthly subscription rates of
Rs25 ($0.54) to Rs99 ($2.14).
The deal gives Universal access to Reliance’s 110 million
mobile customers in the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market.
Reliance hopes the ability to distribute over 300,000 songs
from more than 3,500 of Universal’s international artists will give it a
competitive edge as India prepares for the roll out high-speed third-generation
networks.
Reliance Communications spent $1.8 billion to buy 3G
spectrum in April. If the government allocates that spectrum by September, as
planned, the company should have its 3G network running by early next year,
Reliance Communications president Mahesh Prasad said.
Universal has similar arrangements in about 22 other
countries, including the UK, Singapore, Malaysia and France, said Rob Wells,
Universal Music’s senior vice president for digital operations.
“In markets where we’ve seen huge declines in the physical
business, it ramps up our digital revenues significantly,” said Sandy Monteiro,
president of Universal Music’s South East Asia operations.
After partnering with SingTel, for example, Universal
Music’s digital revenues in Singapore shot up from 10 percent to 50 percent of
the total, he said.
Music downloading has been slow to come to India, where
piracy is rampant. Nokia also has a music download service in India.
