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Netflix is Testing a Mobile-Only, $3 Subscription To Make Its Service More Affordable (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Netflix is testing a cut-price mobile-only subscription, priced as low as $3 for some, as it explores new packages aimed at widening its appeal in Asia and other emerging markets. TechCrunch: CEO Reed Hastings told Bloomberg last week that the company would test lower-priced packages and it hasn't taken long for those experiments to come to light. The first reports are from Malaysia, where Netflix quietly rolled out a mobile-only tier priced at RM17, or around $4, each month. That's half the price of the company's next cheapest package -- 'Basic' -- which retails for RM33, or around $7.90, per month in Malaysia. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the Malaysia trial. They added that similar trials are "running in a few countries" although they declined to provide details. It remains to be seen if this new subscription tier will roll out to other parts of the world.

55 comments

  1. Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get Netflix from both my mobile provider and my ISP in the US "for free". Who would pay for it?

    1. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, but do you realize how much you're paying your mobile provider?

      Over in Europe... 20 euro per month... unlimited 3G, or up to some absurdly high limit, 4G... I just tether my laptop to my phone when I get home... free international roaming... I'm pretty sure that type of service doesn't exist in the US for this kind of price point yet.

    2. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Yea, but do you realize how much you're paying your mobile provider?

      Over in Europe... 20 euro per month... unlimited 3G, or up to some absurdly high limit, 4G... I just tether my laptop to my phone when I get home... free international roaming... I'm pretty sure that type of service doesn't exist in the US for this kind of price point yet.

      Cell phone plans are much more expensive in the US (probably in part due to population density. More infrastructure needed per person than in Europe. Poor Canada has it even worse- lower density and even more expensive than the US.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. Which is why I use my French cell phone plan with the free 3G international roaming when I'm in the US instead of buying anything local. Works great. Are you sure that it's population density, and not just a trope that the companies are trying to sell you on?

    4. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I blame competition. There are markets (i.e. countries) in Europe the size of a smaller US state on the East Coast with 4 or even more cellphone carriers competing for customers.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure what you are talking about. I get T-Mobile in the US for $40/month with unlimited everything (who still uses 3G?) with Netflix. I am sure you can get something cheaper in the US if you want. I mean "unlimited 3G" is nothing to be amazed about.

    6. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What country do you live in?? Belgium is almost 3 times as expensive as that for unlimited data and makes no distinction between 3g/4g. I pay $40 for 8GB/month and find it completely tolerable since I do most of my streaming via home network and not 4G.

      Friends in India have it better but bandwidth is not nearly as good as advertised.

      Malaysia may have the best of both worlds, high bandwidth and low costs. That's why its being trialled there. In most western countries, its more expensive to stream on mobile networks just because we pay for data caps...

    7. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This may come as a shock, but not every story on slashdot is going to be relevant to you. Obviously this is going to be relevant to people who don't already pay for Netflix via a bundle deal with their mobile provider, of which there are many around the world since such deals are much less common in many countries.

    8. Re: Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My problem with Netflix is whoever designed the UI was high as hell. Hard to use search feature. If they replaced the entire UI with a couple of cols with info, and and one to four lines of text (with a logo of course) people could find what they were looking for

    9. Re:Netflix is free in the US by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Cell phone plans are not "much more expensive" in the US than any other western country. For example, a BT mobile unlimited plan is around $55 in the UK (and you need to sign a 12 month contract). Sure, you can find cheaper carriers, just like in the US, but for the same service level it is roughly equivalent. I know, all the EU geniuses will mod me down for daring to speak the truth, but oh well.

    10. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      T-mobile (US) unlimited: $70 / month.
      Free mobile (FR) unlimited : 20€ / month.

      I think $70 is "much more expensive" than 20€. If you don't, you probably have enough money that you don't actually care how much you're paying anyway.

    11. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so get a phone and put it on wifi :-p

    12. Re:Netflix is free in the US by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      $70 is actually on the high end for an unlimited plan in the US and their lowest cost plan that doesn't have a set quota of broadband data (they're all "unlimited") is $50.

      Does the "Free mobile (FR) unlimited" include tethering? Is it really "unlimited" broadband or does it throttle after certain thresholds? Because once you omit tethering from your requirements for a plan, prices drop dramatically in the US and in most cases, Verizon and AT&T notwithstanding, all data plans are "unlimited" but with throttling or data deprioritization.

      T-Mobile's lowest unlimited plan is probably their MetroPCS $40 a month plan which includes 10G before any throttling takes place. $50 buys "unlimited" (ie throttling only when the network is busy) data, and includes 5G of tethering.

      You can probably find similar deals from Sprint, and of course there are plenty of MVNOs.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    13. Re:Netflix is free in the US by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      You're cherry picking. We can throw out so cheap, no named mobile companies in the US as well

    14. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      their lowest cost plan that doesn't have a set quota of broadband data (they're all "unlimited") is $50.

      Is that their T-Mobile Essentials plan? Their website won't tell me the price for a single line, just the per-line price if I get 4 lines and use auto pay.

    15. Re: Netflix is free in the US by omnichad · · Score: 2

      They hide search for a reason. They only provide value when you're not searching for popular shows and movies and seeing that none of them are there. It's a bad excuse, because I know what's there and I just want to go find it quickly. They also make that list that you hand-curated hard to find, because they don't want you to see how often their licensing changes.

    16. Re: Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Check out this list... it might be useful to you...

      http://ogres-crypt.com/public/NetFlix-Streaming-Genres2.html

    17. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      BT is a premium brand more equivalent to Verizon in the US. A quick google shows that the equivalent line on Verizon is $75. Plus, with American carriers you never actually pay the price that is quoted, there are always all sorts of taxes and fees added on AFTER the cost. So (not with Verizon myself), I imagine, what you actually pay is probably closer to $100- almost double the price.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    18. Re:Netflix is free in the US by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "Belgium is almost 3 times as expensive as that for unlimited data and makes no distinction between 3g/4g. I pay $40 for 8GB/month"

      Luxembourg here, I pay 15€ for unlimited calls to all landlines and all mobile operators and also unlimited SMS and MMS and 'unlimited' data (slowed after 4 GB)

    19. Re:Netflix is free in the US by registrations_suck · · Score: 1

      It is not free. It is factored into whatever price you are paying your mobile and ISP providers.

    20. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, so... if I were to use a VPN, I could be paying only $3 for NetFlix???

    21. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you're going to look at an overall 'american' average price. you need to only use verizon. tmobile, sprint and at&t's coverage maps are much smaller. at least one-third of the population can't use any of those for voice and 4g data (i.e. could only choose verizon or a verizon-based reseller).

      $70 per line, is about right. and that's capped and throttled up the ass and has no tethering capability.

    22. Re:Netflix is free in the US by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      The person is lying or speaking about an old plan
      http://mobile.free.fr/

      Per there site it cap
      19 € 99 / month
      15,99 € / month
      for Freebox subscribers

      100 GB Internet

      SMS calls, unlimited MMS

      Abroad :
      25Gb internet (in 3G)
      from + 50 destinations
      Calls, SMS, unlimited MMS
      from Europe, DOM, USA, Canada
      Australia, South Africa,
      Israel, New Zealand.

    23. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Luxembourg is NOT belgium. Just look at your average income and tax rate....

    24. Re:Netflix is free in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds like you are paying for it, twice.

  2. Population Density Excuse by Comboman · · Score: 2
    The population density excuse is frankly bull. Australia has a lower population density than Canada or the US but pays lower rates than both.

    Canada's cellphone rates rank among highest in 8-country study, report says

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    1. Re: Population Density Excuse by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Those studies cherry pick the fuck out of the data. Every time I check one they claim that the cheapest plan is Canada is $40+. Meanwhile I haven't had a cellphone bill over $25 in the last decade. Obviously something is wonky with their methodology.

    2. Re:Population Density Excuse by Raenex · · Score: 1

      Australia has a lower population density than Canada or the US but pays lower rates than both.

      The vast majority of Australia's population is concentrated in cities along the coasts. The United States also has population density along the coast, but it's also much more spread out in the interior. It's a bullshit comparison.

    3. Re:Population Density Excuse by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      The population density excuse is frankly bull. Australia has a lower population density than Canada or the US but pays lower rates than both.

      Canada's cellphone rates rank among highest in 8-country study, report says

      There will always be exceptions to almost every rule- but Australia probably isn't a good example; sure, it's what, about 18 million people spread out across an entire continent, but a large % of the country lives around the South Eastern coast and a few other population centres like Perth and Darwin. I've not used mobile data in Australia but I imagine there are vast parts of the interior without coverage- so the density is probably quite high overall where they do have coverage.

      In a lot of the US outside the major population centers there are still quite a large number of small towns dotted about, so the area that needs to be covered is quite large.

      With that said, I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule "higher density = lower cost" - but the relationship would trend along a scattergraph.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    4. Re:Population Density Excuse by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      Australia has a lower population density than Canada or the US but pays lower rates than both.

      Somewhat of a false equivalency though.

      1) Canada's geography means it's much harder (ergo, more expensive) to deploy a cellular network than it is in Australia - Particularly out west and up north. Rarely do cell towers get covered in eight inches of ice and snow in Australia.

      2) While it's true there are hundreds-of-thousands of kilometers of area in Canada with no cell coverage, there's still much better rural coverage in Canada than there is in the Australian wilderness. The amount you pay for your Telus cell phone bill in urban Vancouver is subsidizing coverage half-way up Jervis Inlet.

    5. Re: Population Density Excuse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which company? Which plan? If I have to guess, the CBC article/video is going for the cheapest data+voice+text. I'm guessing you are on a voice+text plan, or a grandfathered plan?

  3. How much tethering by tepples · · Score: 2

    I get T-Mobile in the US for $40/month with unlimited everything (who still uses 3G?) with Netflix.

    Does this include unlimited use as a mobile hotspot, so that a prospective customer who owns both a phone and a PC can make room in his or her budget for this $40 per month recurring expense by canceling the fiber, cable, or DSL subscription for his or her PC?

    1. Re:How much tethering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes it does. You can also add an additional mobile hotspot for $5 a month.

  4. USA has 4 carriers and 2 protocols by tepples · · Score: 1

    The United States also has four main carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile), and numerous mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that use their networks. But US carriers also use two different 3G protocols (Verizon and Sprint on CDMA2000 and AT&T and T-Mobile on UMTS). Devices sold in a carrier's store tend to ship locked to one carrier, either explicitly through SIM issuer checks or implicitly through supported frequency bands. Devices sold in other major electronics stores (such as Best Buy) tend to have a separate section for each carrier with the phones that are locked to that carrier: these are the AT&T handsets, these are the Verizon handsets, etc. If you're with a carrier for a year, the carrier might make an unlock code available to you after interaction with a human.

    1. Re:USA has 4 carriers and 2 protocols by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No carrier in the US uses 3G now.

    2. Re:USA has 4 carriers and 2 protocols by tepples · · Score: 1

      No carrier in the US uses 3G now.

      Does this imply that the coverage maps shown in carriers' advertising no longer include areas that have not been upgraded to LTE?

      (Even if so, frequency band support differences and explicit SIM issuer checks in phone firmware would remain a difference between US and European markets.)

    3. Re:USA has 4 carriers and 2 protocols by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Most of them provide 3G. The phones currently in use vary from 2G only, 2G+3G, 2G+3G+LTEData, and 2G+3G+LTEEverything. Oh, and that last bit? Some phones support voice on LTE for some LTE bands but not others, meaning that the phone falls back to 2G or 3G for voice calls.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    4. Re:USA has 4 carriers and 2 protocols by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Locked phones here only exist as some sort of deal with a calling plan, i.e. you get your phone for free/cheap with a 2 year plan that you pay through the nose for. And afaik carriers are required to unlock them for you when the plan expires. Some started making this a marketing tool, since few users know that they basically have to do this anyway.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. I'd pay for a partially ad supported netflix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't imagine i'd watch more than a few hours of netflix a month so i just cannot justify the £7.99 ($10.36) price tag. However if they halved that and maybe added a 15 second unskippable advert at the start and half way through they'd get a sale out of me.

  6. Essentially what they already sell in USA for $8 by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    One device, no HD, delivered to an amazon stick instead of to my phone. $8. They're going to make the same thing available to phones for $4? In that case, I'll throw out my prime tv stick and connect my old Nexus 4 with the failed digitizer to my TV...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. My TV is mobile, is it not? by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

    And if not, why can't I root it and make it emulate the 3 inch screen on my phone?

    Anything is mobile if you don't mind carrying it around with you

    (Extension cord sold separately)

    1. Re:My TV is mobile, is it not? by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      The article says nothing about resolution, but it's not hard to see Netflix streaming CIF streams to such devices, given the screens are so small most people won't care.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  8. Interesting by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

    If they remove the "SafetyNet" requirement on Android, perhaps I will rejoin as a customer.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    1. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hahaha my little special snowflake, aren't you cute? "SafetyNet" in quotes, about an android API, yet you use android??

      "I want to hack my phone in ways that allow me to circumvent the protections on a paid service."

      Yep. You're a keeper, I'm sure.

    2. Re:Interesting by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

      Huh?

      The latest Netflix app is incompatible with my phone because it doesn't pass Google's "SafetyNet" checks. I'm not really sure what else to tell you.

      --
      A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
  9. Start of future price hikes to multi-device users? by geniepoo · · Score: 1

    Having "To Make Its Service More Affordable" in the title is misleading in my opinion, since offering a cell-phone only option would be a DIFFERENT service that the multi-device service that people have now. For Netflix to gain subscribers in a market they have maxxed-out, they will need to make existing customers (pretty much everybody) into MULTI-subscribers: Short Game: Make savings appeal to non-family users, such as single people and to folks who want affordable private account outside existing shared Netflix account. End Game: Nickel-and-dime existing multi-device users for every cell phone as much as possible. Long Run: REDUCE COSTS ONLY for cell phone-only consumers and RAISE THE COST FOR THE CURRENT DEFINITION OF EVERYBODY ELSE: existing multi-device subscribers, pay more for less.

  10. Identification of 'mobile' device by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

    How are they determining a mobile device is being used and can the identifiers be spoofed?

    --
    Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    1. Re:Identification of 'mobile' device by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      How are they determining a mobile device is being used and can the identifiers be spoofed?

      Probably trivially. But then again, they probably also limit the resolution to 320x240 and mono audio so it's fine on a phone, but just plain unwatchable on anything larger

      I'm sure everyone already thought of it already since people, especially Asians can be especially cheap.

  11. classic capitalism by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    that's just the way it works:

    raise prices

    fracture market

    raise prices again

    repeat.

    --
    Just another second banana
  12. Still far too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you reduce the amount of proprietary software of yours that I have to run on my computer, in order to be able to use your service? Right now, it currently costs _way_ too much of that.

  13. How to organize a mobile "carpool" by tepples · · Score: 1

    I get T-Mobile in the US for $40/month with unlimited everything

    On T-Mobile's website, I'm seeing $70 for the first line, $50 for the second lines and a Netflix subscription, the third line free, and $20 for the fourth line. Your $40 per line figure is thus correct for three lines. So how would I go about finding others with whom to pool my money for a multi-line subscription?

  14. It's a diminished service by Misagon · · Score: 1

    David Lynch does not like it ...

    --
    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  15. Zach Patterson/ZIP "Greatest Hits" (lol, not) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See how STUPID "ZIP" (Zach I. Patterson) CHIMP is (taking credit for what I solved before him) https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... (he needs to LEARN TO READ)!

    I even SHOW ways to do it YOURSELF https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... (he couldn't).

    Delphi/FreePascal/ObjectPascal HAS no issue w/ null-term'd string bufferoverflows - C does, C++ can UNLESS you do what I said 1st loser.

    "I'm a much better programmer than APK" - by Anonymous Coward ZIP on Monday October 08, 2018 @11:27PM (#57449082) FROM https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... yet nothing to show in programs. I can from registered /.ers liking/using/praising my work (& 100k users worldwide too). He can't.

    LIAR ZIP says he has no account "I don't have an account, so I don't have mod points" https://news.slashdot.org/comm...

    Yet LIAR ZIP says he downmods my posts (IMPOSSIBLE MINUS AN ACCOUNT on /.): "I down-modded a few of your post on other threads" - by Anonymous Coward "ZIP" on Thursday October 11, 2018 @11:31AM (#57461058) FROM https://yro.slashdot.org/comme...

    Tell us about CODE SIGNING (which has been STOLEN & ABUSED) https://www.helpnetsecurity.co... MY METHOD CAN'T BE (upmodded +2 INTERESTING in CODING FOR DEFCON no less) https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

    APK

    P.S.=> Classic & HILARIOUS how STUPID you are CHIMPANZEE (descended from them obviously) - this makes my ALL-TIME FAVORITE for you dimwit - & every time you pull your BULLSHIT? Out this comes, lol... apk

  16. What's Wrong? by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

    YoU aLl HaVe PhOnEs, DoN't YoU?!

  17. More affordable by sheramil · · Score: 1

    For this package, available content has been reduced to one film - "Starship Troopers" - and one episode of "The Big Bang Theory".. the one where Sheldon is annoying.