Streaming service Hooq to enter India from tomorrow

Hooq, touted as Asia's answer to streaming service Netflix, will launch a beta version of its premium video-on-demand service in India from tomorrow, as it targets young internet users in a market that is leapfrogging to content usage through smartphones and apps.

The four-month-old start-up joint venture between Singaporean telecom giant Singtel, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros, will offer over 10,000 Hollywood blockbusters, television soaps and popular local programs for a monthly subscription of Rs 199 applicable for 5 devices including mobile phones and tablets, via an app and mobile web, desktop computers and Android set-top boxes.

"We want to be the leaders in the Indian market," Hooq chief executive officer Peter Bithos told ET on Tuesday.

He added that Hooq wants to become the primary and legal platform for users who would otherwise take to the internet to download pirated content illegally, which is mostly unreliable and fret with viruses.

While Hooq has beaten larger global rival Netflix to the Indian market, its entry comes amidst raging debate on net neutrality and zero-rating or sponsored data plans.

Bithos supported the concept of a free Internet, saying there should be no fast-lanes or slow lanes for data packets.

A formal launch in India will happen in June and till that time that company will keep on adding more locally relevant and international content. Hooq currently operates in the Philippines and Thailand with a population footprint of over 160 million people.