Vodafone Idea plans new music streaming service

MUMBAI: The largest telecom player of India is now planning to bet on a music streaming service. Vodafone Idea Ltd has plans in store to launch a new music streaming app while its biggest rivals already have ventured into the segment. The telco player will come up with the new app through partnership though did not reveal the name of the concerned company.

At a time when all the telco players are upping their content game, the strategic move will definitely help Vodafone Idea going forward, especially to take on Bharti Airtel’s Wynk Music and Reliance Jio’s JioSaavn. With the entry of the new music streaming app, the existing Idea Music app will be shut down.

“We are sunsetting the Idea Music app and we will come up very soon with an offering that will provide the best-in-class music streaming services, through a partnership that we are in the final stages of closing," Vodafone Idea chief executive officer Balesh Sharma said in a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

The move could help the telco giant to retain subscribers also. Since the entry of Jio in the market, the ARPU of the operators has declined rapidly due to the ongoing tariff war. Two legit players including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea saw revenues from wireless business drop significantly over last two years.

However, the competition for Vodafone Idea’s new entrant will not be easy. Along with Wynk Music and JioSaavn, there are other players like players Gaana, Hungama, Apple Music and Google Play Music. Moreover, Spotify is expected to enter the Indian market by March as per media reports.