Isn’t this great, for just Rs.400 a month, Netflix gives Video on demand on a lot of devices (PC,macs, mobile devices, gaming consoles etc.) with recommendations, resuming playback of movies/T.V shows where you left them off and a lot more. So if you’re watching a movie late in the night and you get too sleepy, you can shut off your movie and resume it the next day on your way to work on your phone.  We end up paying more for Tata sky which doesn’t even provide video on demand or multiple device viewing.

This model has helped Netflix become a major success in the US and Canada with Apple choosing to bundle a Netflix app on their Apple TV as well. This gets us wondering, why isn’t there a service similar to Netflix in India?

Although there have been a few companies which have tried to imitate the earlier Netflix model, i.e DVD rentals none of them have become hugely popular nor have they offered attractive policies like no late fees, no due dates etc. There was a post on gigaOM way back in 2006 pegging seventymm as India’s Netflix, obviously the service hasn’t caught on.
The posts points out a major hurdle for video rental services like these, piracy. With every railway station selling CDs of the latest movies on as soon as their release dates for as cheap as Rs.50 ($1), it becomes a bit difficult for the survival of this model, also with increasing penetration of the not-so-fast broadband in India, you see people downloading 700mb DVD rips from piratebay even if it takes them 24 hours.

So Indian players haven’t even succeeded in coming on par with the Netflix of the earlier years, let alone the current streaming based Netflix. The rental service not catching up is because these players haven’t been able to come up with an effective strategy, but the non existent streaming based service is majorly because of the pathetic internet service in India.

The Netflix page specifies minimum connection requirements for it to work fine “Watching instantly works with all different levels of broadband, however, we recommend a minimum speed of 500kpbs (0.5MB).” In average Indian homes unfortunately this sort of connectivity is absent. Speeds like these if offered by ISPs cost a lot. So right now if an Indian Netflix would startup it would remain restricted to the offices of Indian people where stuff like this isn’t permitted. Also the mobile market isn’t ready yet for on the move media viewing, the 3G tariffs are expensive, carriers aren’t ready yet to carry huge amounts of data on their network and a huge part of Indians still don’t have smart phones.

This coupled with the fact that many Indians don’t want to pay for something digital. For example: They won’t hesitate much to buy pirated CDs and DVDs but they have a problem buying a $.99 game from the AppStore. Fortunately this mindset is changing with the increasing penetration of Internet banking, online shopping etc. A lot of channels like NDTV, CNN, IBN, etc and events like the IPL are providing live streams online. So one can just hope for a Netflix like service to come up in India in the next five years. If they have enough partnerships for providing content then DTH services are doomed!

It was reported that Netflix’s competitor Google has also  launched a pay-per-view online service, in order to gain more traffic to their new service.

Source: I feel that we desperately need faster broadband connection for sure. It will solve a lot of problems. I feel piracy can somehow be reduced by providing faster broadband in homes and mobile phones. I would definitely want to subscribe for a 24×7 movie available for 400 Rs/per month. And save money on my broadband and electricity bill.

1. Team bhp – This is an Automotive Community in India. Very popular. You can buy and sell almost anything here. Cars, Bikes and Gadgets.
2. Tech Enclave -  Techenclave is my first forum which inspired me to write this post. I started buying and selling stuff in this forum first. Again buy and sell anything here but as the name suggests most of the stuff is related to computers. Group Orders is the most.
3. Erodov – Erodov is one neat forum with buy and sell section optimized to the fullest. With clear categories defined for buyers and sellers I have started loving Erodov now.
4. Rim Web – Rimweb may be one of the oldest mobile community. I registered here when I started using Reliance Mobile. I still use it Well people come here and buy sell their mobile phones primarily. You can also find other stuff here. But primarily, Mobiles.
5. HiFi Vision – HiFi Vision is the most renowned Indian forum related to audio and video. Its like the AVS Forum but that is for the bigger world. HiFi Vision is for Indian Audio-Videophiles.
6. Think Digit – ThinkDigit forum is the official forum from the tech magazine company called Think Digit. Mostly the reader of the magazine come here and buy sell their old computer related stuff.
7. xBhp – xBhp is one of the most browsed Biking Community Forum in India. So here, what to expect other than bikes. If you are thinking about selling that old bike. Go there.
8. Tech Arena -  To be very frank and true, I don’t have any idea about this forum as I never visited this one. I found this forum had a Buy/Sell category and a considerable amount of post in that section so I thought it would be good to share the link with you. No harm in sharing anything. right !
9. India Broadband Forum -  Oh.. Indian Broadband Forum started with the Broadband scene in India but then gradually picked up many other topics and now is a full fledged tech forum with variety of topics. I am a regular visitor to this forum from the last 4-5 years at least. I registered here when I used to use Sify Broadband. Yeah ! those were the best days of my life. that dc++ hub. I still miss it.. Anyways, again never went to the buy/sell section on this forum, but since the traffic to this forum is huge so I am expecting people do trade here.
10. JJMehta - This forums is for Photography enthusiasts so obviously you can sell and purchase photography equipments like Camera, dSLR and Lenses.

Mostly you would find people selling their stuff in multiple forums i.e. they are registered on all of the forums.

Important : Please read the rules of the respective forums as they all operate on their own rules and regulations. You don’t wanna get burnt as soon as you start.

I know I have missed a lot of good forums. I will keep updating the list whenever I get to know about anything new. But I listed the ones I knew and am a regular visitor. If you have a longer list do let me know I will definitely add them here.