No easy streaming for Netflix in India, without offline mode

Last week saw the launch of Netflix in India. It is a big deal. Years after the West discovered that watching TV is way better if the streaming of shows and movies are done through Netflix, web users in India finally have the same option.

The benefits of Netflix are big. Firstly, there are no ads on it. Secondly, you don’t have to be in front of the TV at a pre-determined time to watch a particular show or movie. You can watch it at as and when you please.

Thirdly, the pricing too, if not aggressive, is fair.

The basic bundle, which starts at Rs 500, gives you access to all available TV shows and movies. No conditions attached. The standard bundle offers the same content in high definition (HD) as well as features like streaming on two screens simultaneously. The premium version costs Rs 800 and adds the 4K aka UltraHD option.

But the devil, as they say, is in the detail. Streaming video content is hard, even for Netflix. There are tricky licencing issues involved. So to begin with, consumers in India are going to get a very limited catalogue of shows and movies. Shows like House of Cards, Agents of Shield and Breaking Bad aren’t available in India for now. The local content, including Bollywood films, is largely missing.

Chances are that the availability of content will improve in the coming months. However, what is going to remain stuck in the last decade is India’s internet infrastructure. For HD streaming, Netflix requires internet connection of at least 3mbps speed.

This is the kind of speed that Indian web users rarely see from their internet service providers. In cases where such speeds are available, they are hobbled by ridiculously poor upper limits on data consumption.

These monthly limits are so low that in most cases, you can exhaust them in a couple of days with Netflix. Called Fair Use Policy, such telecom practices are illegal in many countries but our government turns a blind eye to them.

The problem of India’s poor internet network is not going to be solved any time soon. There is no government push to fix it and telecom companies are busy milking consumers. This is a problem that Netflix should have solved, at least partially.

Google’s YouTube is trying to solve it by offering offline downloads. Apple Music too solves it partially, even though music streaming is not that heavy on network usage, by offering an offline mode. Netflix too should have offered Indian consumers an option to download videos for offline viewing.

Now, there is a concern that offline viewing could have made piracy easier. But those fears seems to be misguided. YouTube offers offline mode by encrypting video content.

This content can only be played with the YouTube app. The same is true for Apple Music. Netflix could have come up with a similar option.

India is a tough place for technology companies. There is a lot of latent demand but no infrastructure. It is always great to see a company like Netflix entering India. But India is also a tricky market with its peculiarities that demand specific solutions.

Netflix is a good service and a lot of people would love the access it provides but it would have also reached many more people and would have a better chance of becoming a household name in India - just the way it has become in the US - if it had offered an offline mode.