Category: iWorld

  • Twitter and Rolling Stone India partners live Twitter music gigs called #RollingWith

    Twitter and Rolling Stone India partners live Twitter music gigs called #RollingWith

    MUMBAI: Twitter India and music monthly Rolling Stone India has teamed up to kickstart a new bi-monthly partnership. Called #RollingWith, this curated partnership will see Indian indie musicians and visiting global acts perform live at the Twitter India #BlueRoom, and the performance will be broadcasted live on Periscope via @RollingStoneIN to reach fans across the country and the world on Twitter. Prior to and during the performance, the artists will also engage with fans on Twitter via exclusive video Q&As and more.

    Taking fan engagement from online to offline, a small set of fans, selected via Twitter, will also be invited to watch the gig live at the #BlueRoom.

    These ‘music-and-conversation’ video sessions will give music fans a new way of enjoying live music – with a side of social media infused banter. The series will aim to discover new artists, and offer a space where musicians and fans meet, talk music, and enjoy a nonchalant listening session. To make it a more inclusive experience for fans, artists will crowdsources lyrics, take a Twitter poll of their favourite tracks, make new album announcements, new tour announcements, share gig travel stories, or chat with fans live on Periscope while performing.

    The #RollingWith partnership kickstarted today with British pop sensation, The Vamps (@TheVampsband) that took place live on Twitter on Monday morning. The September and October line-up also includes artists such as Urdu rapper Naezy (@NaezytheBAa), Sandunes (@sandunesmusic), and Mumbai rapper Divine (@VivianDivine), Nucleya (@NUCLEYA) and Dualist Inquiry (@DualistInquiry).

    “Twitter is your live connection to culture, and fans flock to Twitter to share and connect with their favourite artists and other fans. We are thrilled to bring new experiences for music fans exclusively on Twitter with #RollingWith in partnership with Rolling Stone India. Through this initiative, we will be hosting curated performances from Indian indie artists and visiting global acts both on Twitter and live at the #BlueRoom, and will also give fans an opportunity to engage with their favourite musicians in new and unique ways. #RollingWith will feature both known and emerging artists to support the growing local music industry,” says Twitter head of media Partnerships, Southeast Asia Pratiksha Rao,

    Rolling Stone editor & publisher Radhakrishnan Nair, India says, “Rolling Stone India is committed to the cause of supporting artists as well as providing them with a platform to interact with their fans directly. We are happy to join hands with Twitter India for #RollingWith, which is a unique and exciting project in today’s social media-driven industry. We hope #RollingWith will go a long way in building and fostering an interactive community of musicians and fans.”

    The gigs will go live on @RollingStoneIndia on Twitter and Periscope, and will reach audiences across the country and the world via Twitter. For regular updates on artist line-up, follow @TwitterIndia and @RollingStoneIN. Follow the conversation with #RollingWith.

    The Vamps  (@TheVampsband) at the first #RollingWith Twitter gig

  • Twitter and Rolling Stone India partners live Twitter music gigs called #RollingWith

    Twitter and Rolling Stone India partners live Twitter music gigs called #RollingWith

    MUMBAI: Twitter India and music monthly Rolling Stone India has teamed up to kickstart a new bi-monthly partnership. Called #RollingWith, this curated partnership will see Indian indie musicians and visiting global acts perform live at the Twitter India #BlueRoom, and the performance will be broadcasted live on Periscope via @RollingStoneIN to reach fans across the country and the world on Twitter. Prior to and during the performance, the artists will also engage with fans on Twitter via exclusive video Q&As and more.

    Taking fan engagement from online to offline, a small set of fans, selected via Twitter, will also be invited to watch the gig live at the #BlueRoom.

    These ‘music-and-conversation’ video sessions will give music fans a new way of enjoying live music – with a side of social media infused banter. The series will aim to discover new artists, and offer a space where musicians and fans meet, talk music, and enjoy a nonchalant listening session. To make it a more inclusive experience for fans, artists will crowdsources lyrics, take a Twitter poll of their favourite tracks, make new album announcements, new tour announcements, share gig travel stories, or chat with fans live on Periscope while performing.

    The #RollingWith partnership kickstarted today with British pop sensation, The Vamps (@TheVampsband) that took place live on Twitter on Monday morning. The September and October line-up also includes artists such as Urdu rapper Naezy (@NaezytheBAa), Sandunes (@sandunesmusic), and Mumbai rapper Divine (@VivianDivine), Nucleya (@NUCLEYA) and Dualist Inquiry (@DualistInquiry).

    “Twitter is your live connection to culture, and fans flock to Twitter to share and connect with their favourite artists and other fans. We are thrilled to bring new experiences for music fans exclusively on Twitter with #RollingWith in partnership with Rolling Stone India. Through this initiative, we will be hosting curated performances from Indian indie artists and visiting global acts both on Twitter and live at the #BlueRoom, and will also give fans an opportunity to engage with their favourite musicians in new and unique ways. #RollingWith will feature both known and emerging artists to support the growing local music industry,” says Twitter head of media Partnerships, Southeast Asia Pratiksha Rao,

    Rolling Stone editor & publisher Radhakrishnan Nair, India says, “Rolling Stone India is committed to the cause of supporting artists as well as providing them with a platform to interact with their fans directly. We are happy to join hands with Twitter India for #RollingWith, which is a unique and exciting project in today’s social media-driven industry. We hope #RollingWith will go a long way in building and fostering an interactive community of musicians and fans.”

    The gigs will go live on @RollingStoneIndia on Twitter and Periscope, and will reach audiences across the country and the world via Twitter. For regular updates on artist line-up, follow @TwitterIndia and @RollingStoneIN. Follow the conversation with #RollingWith.

    The Vamps  (@TheVampsband) at the first #RollingWith Twitter gig

  • Shopmatic helps SMEs and individual entrepreneurs in APAC

    Shopmatic helps SMEs and individual entrepreneurs in APAC

    MUMBAI: Shopmatic, a Singapore-based e-commerce company providing a platform for any merchant to take their business online, has joined hands with leading e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Lazada. The alliance will seamlessly enable Shopmatic merchants in Singapore to develop their own webstores for a global presence and sell their products or services on these marketplaces in a convenient, hassle-free manner.

    A financial and business management hub, Singapore provides a strong digital infrastructure with the highest internet penetration in Southeast Asia. Industry analysts estimate that three out of every four residents in the country will use the internet at least once a month [1], a figure well above that for any other country in the region. The platform is focused on helping not only the small and medium businesses of the Asian countries to find their feet in the online world, but also give these firms global exposure.

    Commenting on this alliance Shopmatic CEO Anurag Avula said, “As a global e-commerce company, our primary focus is to empower merchants and individual business owners with an online platform which can help them in reaching out to a bigger audience and boost their business through greater speed and efficiency. By tying up with these successful e-commerce powerhouses, we are enabling our user base in Singapore to leverage the penetration and popularity of these portals and gain instant access to millions of customers across the globe. Meanwhile, they will also continue enjoying the benefits of being enlisted on our platform that provides them with an entire ecosystem to grow their business in the virtual world.”

    Shopmatic has established partnerships with numerous international and local companies in order to make it easier for its users to sell online. Recently, Shopmatic signed deals with global online payments giant PayPal to enable its merchants in expanding their sales across the globe. On the logistics front, Shopmatic has made strategic partnerships with local and global logistics players like Delhivery and Aramex. These tie-ups have been instrumental in helping individual entrepreneurs manage everything that is required to let their business grow, including exposing them to international markets with the help of Shopmatic’s global footprint.

  • Shopmatic helps SMEs and individual entrepreneurs in APAC

    Shopmatic helps SMEs and individual entrepreneurs in APAC

    MUMBAI: Shopmatic, a Singapore-based e-commerce company providing a platform for any merchant to take their business online, has joined hands with leading e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Lazada. The alliance will seamlessly enable Shopmatic merchants in Singapore to develop their own webstores for a global presence and sell their products or services on these marketplaces in a convenient, hassle-free manner.

    A financial and business management hub, Singapore provides a strong digital infrastructure with the highest internet penetration in Southeast Asia. Industry analysts estimate that three out of every four residents in the country will use the internet at least once a month [1], a figure well above that for any other country in the region. The platform is focused on helping not only the small and medium businesses of the Asian countries to find their feet in the online world, but also give these firms global exposure.

    Commenting on this alliance Shopmatic CEO Anurag Avula said, “As a global e-commerce company, our primary focus is to empower merchants and individual business owners with an online platform which can help them in reaching out to a bigger audience and boost their business through greater speed and efficiency. By tying up with these successful e-commerce powerhouses, we are enabling our user base in Singapore to leverage the penetration and popularity of these portals and gain instant access to millions of customers across the globe. Meanwhile, they will also continue enjoying the benefits of being enlisted on our platform that provides them with an entire ecosystem to grow their business in the virtual world.”

    Shopmatic has established partnerships with numerous international and local companies in order to make it easier for its users to sell online. Recently, Shopmatic signed deals with global online payments giant PayPal to enable its merchants in expanding their sales across the globe. On the logistics front, Shopmatic has made strategic partnerships with local and global logistics players like Delhivery and Aramex. These tie-ups have been instrumental in helping individual entrepreneurs manage everything that is required to let their business grow, including exposing them to international markets with the help of Shopmatic’s global footprint.

  • Twitter India kicks off #GoLive bootcamps

    Twitter India kicks off #GoLive bootcamps

    MUMBAI: Twitter has expanded its Indian outreach to empower agencies and brands it works with to capitalize on live, always-on moments and video innovation through the platform. The outreach program in India is anchored by a three-prong strategy: gamified learning through DIY postcards, new deep dive courses for its Flight School online education programme, and a new series of multi-city #GoLive agency bootcamps.

    “The digital space moves at lightning speed, change is the only constant. Agencies know of Twitter, but not many know how best to leverage our latest tools in a way that adds value for their clients. To help increase the understanding as our platform and the industry evolves, we are working to engage more with marketers around the world so that they and their clients can use Twitter more effectively to reach and engage with target customers,” says Simon Brockman, Head of Agency Development, APAC & MENA, Twitter.

    Gamified learning going back to basics

    Twitter India will send weekly ‘Did You Know’ cards to agencies over a six week period, to help agencies in achieving their marketing goals through gamified learning. These ‘Did You Know’ cards will contain interesting facts and trivia about Twitter’s advertising solutions, share best practices on how to target and build an audience on the platform, and deliver research insights to agency representatives. On the corresponding Friday, there will be trivia quiz hosted from @TwitterAdsIN open to employees of participating agencies to test that week’s knowledge.

    New modules available to agencies and brand marketers globally

    For marketers seeking to advance their digital prowess, Twitter Flight School serves as the go-to resource for agencies and brand marketers to stay on top of the latest innovations on the platform and ideas to maximize campaign results. More than 7,900 representatives from brands and agencies in the region has registered for the free online education program so far. Within a week in India, nearly 600 agency representatives have signed up for the program.

    Twitter has added new deep dive modules to Flight School that support marketers who are keen on leveraging premium content advertising from top broadcasters, sports leagues, and content creators. Marketers can explore content partnerships with Twitter Amplify, scale optimisation with Twitter Ads, and maximize TV campaign results with Twitter integration. Upcoming modules include the latest video on Twitter and direct response features, key drivers of engagement for advertisers on Twitter.

    Twitter kicks off #GoLive agency bootcamps in Asia

    Finally, Twitter kicks off a series of #GoLive agency bootcamps across Asia, including India, this August. The bootcamps are half day learning sessions for agencies comprising of intensive training workshops aimed at bringing together Twitter experts from marketing, research, product, and brand strategy to facilitate best practice sharing.The the first round of bootcamps will be conducted for some of the key agency partners including GroupM, Omnicom Media Group & Publicis Media. Later in the year, the program will be scaled to include some of the other agency groups too.

    More than 20 of these training sessions will be held with agencies across India, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore between August and September.

    Here are some perspectives from the agencies:

    “At MEC India, to perpetually be in beta mode is a philosophy we aspire to. With so much going on around us, we place a big premium on staying updated. We find Twitter’s Flight School and agency outreach programme very valuable towards that end,” Gangs T Gangadhar, Managing Director of MEC South Asia.

    “Digital is developing at a rapid speed and we want to maximise this moment for our clients in real-time. The #GoLive training sessions and Flight School from Twitter ensure that we are topping the digital game, aligned to the needs of our teams, while helping us elevate as a Group.” – Gregory Fortune, Head of Trading, Southeast Asia, Publicis Groupe

    “The age of “Precision and Addressability” has arrived and as agency leaders, we need to be at the forefront to best advise our clients on their brand strategies and campaigns in this fast changing Digital landscape. I am excited to see Twitter making the effort to help upgrade agency skills with Twitter Flight School and the agency bootcamp. We look forward to closer collaboration with Twitter to take our agency to greater heights,” Yasir Riaz, Managing Director of Starcom Indonesia.

  • Twitter India kicks off #GoLive bootcamps

    Twitter India kicks off #GoLive bootcamps

    MUMBAI: Twitter has expanded its Indian outreach to empower agencies and brands it works with to capitalize on live, always-on moments and video innovation through the platform. The outreach program in India is anchored by a three-prong strategy: gamified learning through DIY postcards, new deep dive courses for its Flight School online education programme, and a new series of multi-city #GoLive agency bootcamps.

    “The digital space moves at lightning speed, change is the only constant. Agencies know of Twitter, but not many know how best to leverage our latest tools in a way that adds value for their clients. To help increase the understanding as our platform and the industry evolves, we are working to engage more with marketers around the world so that they and their clients can use Twitter more effectively to reach and engage with target customers,” says Simon Brockman, Head of Agency Development, APAC & MENA, Twitter.

    Gamified learning going back to basics

    Twitter India will send weekly ‘Did You Know’ cards to agencies over a six week period, to help agencies in achieving their marketing goals through gamified learning. These ‘Did You Know’ cards will contain interesting facts and trivia about Twitter’s advertising solutions, share best practices on how to target and build an audience on the platform, and deliver research insights to agency representatives. On the corresponding Friday, there will be trivia quiz hosted from @TwitterAdsIN open to employees of participating agencies to test that week’s knowledge.

    New modules available to agencies and brand marketers globally

    For marketers seeking to advance their digital prowess, Twitter Flight School serves as the go-to resource for agencies and brand marketers to stay on top of the latest innovations on the platform and ideas to maximize campaign results. More than 7,900 representatives from brands and agencies in the region has registered for the free online education program so far. Within a week in India, nearly 600 agency representatives have signed up for the program.

    Twitter has added new deep dive modules to Flight School that support marketers who are keen on leveraging premium content advertising from top broadcasters, sports leagues, and content creators. Marketers can explore content partnerships with Twitter Amplify, scale optimisation with Twitter Ads, and maximize TV campaign results with Twitter integration. Upcoming modules include the latest video on Twitter and direct response features, key drivers of engagement for advertisers on Twitter.

    Twitter kicks off #GoLive agency bootcamps in Asia

    Finally, Twitter kicks off a series of #GoLive agency bootcamps across Asia, including India, this August. The bootcamps are half day learning sessions for agencies comprising of intensive training workshops aimed at bringing together Twitter experts from marketing, research, product, and brand strategy to facilitate best practice sharing.The the first round of bootcamps will be conducted for some of the key agency partners including GroupM, Omnicom Media Group & Publicis Media. Later in the year, the program will be scaled to include some of the other agency groups too.

    More than 20 of these training sessions will be held with agencies across India, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore between August and September.

    Here are some perspectives from the agencies:

    “At MEC India, to perpetually be in beta mode is a philosophy we aspire to. With so much going on around us, we place a big premium on staying updated. We find Twitter’s Flight School and agency outreach programme very valuable towards that end,” Gangs T Gangadhar, Managing Director of MEC South Asia.

    “Digital is developing at a rapid speed and we want to maximise this moment for our clients in real-time. The #GoLive training sessions and Flight School from Twitter ensure that we are topping the digital game, aligned to the needs of our teams, while helping us elevate as a Group.” – Gregory Fortune, Head of Trading, Southeast Asia, Publicis Groupe

    “The age of “Precision and Addressability” has arrived and as agency leaders, we need to be at the forefront to best advise our clients on their brand strategies and campaigns in this fast changing Digital landscape. I am excited to see Twitter making the effort to help upgrade agency skills with Twitter Flight School and the agency bootcamp. We look forward to closer collaboration with Twitter to take our agency to greater heights,” Yasir Riaz, Managing Director of Starcom Indonesia.

  • Hooq plans to invest $2 million on original Indian content

    Hooq plans to invest $2 million on original Indian content

    MUMBAI: Hooq plans to invest $ 2 million in Indian original content in India. This is part of its APAC strategy to start sourcing local original content in Asian countries.

    A joint venture of SingTel, Sony Pictures TV and Warner Bros., Hooq entered the Indian market back in May this year with a catalogue of over 10,000 movies and TV series.

    “We are in talks with a few other (production) studios in India but nothing finalised yet. As we are still in an observation phase, we are seeing a gap in local language content available on broadcasters’ apps. Such content or programming is not available on other neutral platforms too. That is the gap we are looking (at filling),” said Hooq India managing director Salil Kapoor.

    Though Kapoor refused to comment on investment plans, entertainment industry sources indicated that in the first phase Hooq is likely to spend up to $ 2 million in Indian original content, a plan that’s similar to what the company proposes to do in some other Asian countries too.

    Apart from Hollywood content, Hooq has presently sourced Indian films and shows from studios like Rajshri Productions, Reliance Entertainment, Shemaroo Entertainment, Balaji Telefilms and Whacked Out Studios. With the cost of making original English language shows high, the platform is considering Hindi and other Indian language content.

    For the OTT platform, consumption of its service in the four south Indian states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is high and an area of focus in terms of content and expanding subscriber base.

    Though the Indian OTT market is still in an early stage in terms of revenue generation and subscriber base, Hooq has priced its monthly subscription at Rs 199 in a price sensitive market where high data charges and indifferent bandwidth are also major challenges for an OTT player. New subscribers are offered a seven-day trial package for free.

    Interestingly, all the investors of Hooq have other investments too in India. SingTel is a major investor in telco Bharti Airtel, while both Sony Pictures TV and Warner Bros. have separate businesses running in India. Hooq presently operates in the Philippines, Thailand and India with a population footprint of over 1.4 billion people.

    India, which as per a Media Partners Asia report could gain in APAC online video segment owing to China’s restrictive policies, has seen some global digital players setting up shop with significant initial investments in the OTT/VOD eco-system.

    Netflix, for example, has earmarked $5 billion for content creation and acquisition for 2016 calendar period. Chinese Internet conglomerate LeEco is likely to invest nearly $1.5 billion in media-entertainment industry for content aggregation. Amazon Prime, according to media reports, plans to invest $300 million in funding movies and television series in India and is in talks with Bollywood studios.

    Apart from global players, local players too have lined up significant investments in content for online video services. This includes Star India, Viacom18, Sony India, Savvn, Zee, Times of India group and Arre. Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries has plans to pump in $17 billion in the Reliance Jio eco-system to build a platform that is aimed at taking Indians to live the digital life with cutting-edge services and quality content.

  • Hooq plans to invest $2 million on original Indian content

    Hooq plans to invest $2 million on original Indian content

    MUMBAI: Hooq plans to invest $ 2 million in Indian original content in India. This is part of its APAC strategy to start sourcing local original content in Asian countries.

    A joint venture of SingTel, Sony Pictures TV and Warner Bros., Hooq entered the Indian market back in May this year with a catalogue of over 10,000 movies and TV series.

    “We are in talks with a few other (production) studios in India but nothing finalised yet. As we are still in an observation phase, we are seeing a gap in local language content available on broadcasters’ apps. Such content or programming is not available on other neutral platforms too. That is the gap we are looking (at filling),” said Hooq India managing director Salil Kapoor.

    Though Kapoor refused to comment on investment plans, entertainment industry sources indicated that in the first phase Hooq is likely to spend up to $ 2 million in Indian original content, a plan that’s similar to what the company proposes to do in some other Asian countries too.

    Apart from Hollywood content, Hooq has presently sourced Indian films and shows from studios like Rajshri Productions, Reliance Entertainment, Shemaroo Entertainment, Balaji Telefilms and Whacked Out Studios. With the cost of making original English language shows high, the platform is considering Hindi and other Indian language content.

    For the OTT platform, consumption of its service in the four south Indian states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is high and an area of focus in terms of content and expanding subscriber base.

    Though the Indian OTT market is still in an early stage in terms of revenue generation and subscriber base, Hooq has priced its monthly subscription at Rs 199 in a price sensitive market where high data charges and indifferent bandwidth are also major challenges for an OTT player. New subscribers are offered a seven-day trial package for free.

    Interestingly, all the investors of Hooq have other investments too in India. SingTel is a major investor in telco Bharti Airtel, while both Sony Pictures TV and Warner Bros. have separate businesses running in India. Hooq presently operates in the Philippines, Thailand and India with a population footprint of over 1.4 billion people.

    India, which as per a Media Partners Asia report could gain in APAC online video segment owing to China’s restrictive policies, has seen some global digital players setting up shop with significant initial investments in the OTT/VOD eco-system.

    Netflix, for example, has earmarked $5 billion for content creation and acquisition for 2016 calendar period. Chinese Internet conglomerate LeEco is likely to invest nearly $1.5 billion in media-entertainment industry for content aggregation. Amazon Prime, according to media reports, plans to invest $300 million in funding movies and television series in India and is in talks with Bollywood studios.

    Apart from global players, local players too have lined up significant investments in content for online video services. This includes Star India, Viacom18, Sony India, Savvn, Zee, Times of India group and Arre. Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries has plans to pump in $17 billion in the Reliance Jio eco-system to build a platform that is aimed at taking Indians to live the digital life with cutting-edge services and quality content.

  • Govt defers mega spectrum auction to Oct 1

    Govt defers mega spectrum auction to Oct 1

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has deferred to Oct 1, 2016 mega sale of mobile frequencies that are aimed at ushering in quality telecoms services, including 4G services capable of delivering hi-speed broadband speed for easy video delivery.

    “For start of the auction 29th September READ start of the auction 1st October,” PTI quoted a revised government communication inviting application for spectrum auction as saying.

    As per an earlier schedule, bids for airwaves was scheduled to start from September 29 that fell during the ‘shradh’ period considered inauspicious to start new ventures as Indians pay homage to departed souls during this period.

    Telecom operators had demanded that the spectrum sale, which is the biggest ever auction, should begin with the start of Navratra festival, considered auspicious, the PTI report states.

    Department of Telecoms (DoT) has put on the block a total of 2,354.55 megahertz of mobile frequencies for auction in bandwidths of 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz.

    All the radiowaves being put for auction can be used for high speed 4G services.

    Recently during Vidnet2016, an OTT-specific conference organised by Indiantelevision, Star India’s chief of digital initiative (Hotstar) Ajit Mohan had opined that for platforms like Hotstar high data cost and low quality bandwidth were major challenges.

    At base price, the sale of all spectrum would fetch bids worth Rs 5.63 lakh crore. Of this, spectrum in premium 700 Mhz band alone has potential to attract bids of Rs 4 lakh crore.

    Industry experts, however, have cast doubts over success of the spectrum auction due to high base price of mobile airwaves, but DoT has expressed confidence saying buyers of airwaves in the most expensive frequency band 700 Mhz would be able to save 70 per cent of the cost they will spend on rolling out infrastructure, the PTI reports states.

  • Govt defers mega spectrum auction to Oct 1

    Govt defers mega spectrum auction to Oct 1

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has deferred to Oct 1, 2016 mega sale of mobile frequencies that are aimed at ushering in quality telecoms services, including 4G services capable of delivering hi-speed broadband speed for easy video delivery.

    “For start of the auction 29th September READ start of the auction 1st October,” PTI quoted a revised government communication inviting application for spectrum auction as saying.

    As per an earlier schedule, bids for airwaves was scheduled to start from September 29 that fell during the ‘shradh’ period considered inauspicious to start new ventures as Indians pay homage to departed souls during this period.

    Telecom operators had demanded that the spectrum sale, which is the biggest ever auction, should begin with the start of Navratra festival, considered auspicious, the PTI report states.

    Department of Telecoms (DoT) has put on the block a total of 2,354.55 megahertz of mobile frequencies for auction in bandwidths of 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz.

    All the radiowaves being put for auction can be used for high speed 4G services.

    Recently during Vidnet2016, an OTT-specific conference organised by Indiantelevision, Star India’s chief of digital initiative (Hotstar) Ajit Mohan had opined that for platforms like Hotstar high data cost and low quality bandwidth were major challenges.

    At base price, the sale of all spectrum would fetch bids worth Rs 5.63 lakh crore. Of this, spectrum in premium 700 Mhz band alone has potential to attract bids of Rs 4 lakh crore.

    Industry experts, however, have cast doubts over success of the spectrum auction due to high base price of mobile airwaves, but DoT has expressed confidence saying buyers of airwaves in the most expensive frequency band 700 Mhz would be able to save 70 per cent of the cost they will spend on rolling out infrastructure, the PTI reports states.