Russia’s second largest mobile phone retailer Svyaznoy, which operates some 2,300 outlets throughout Russia, will soon launch a website to sell music, ebooks and other multimedia content, Russian daily Vedomosti reported, citing Svyaznoy’s General Manager Denis Lyudkovsky.
The future portal – still unnamed – will offer over 1 million music tracks, over 30,000 e-books, computer programs and applications for devices sold in Svyaznoy outlets, as well as online games and videos.
Users will be able to listen to songs and read e-books on the future website at no charge, but downloads to computers or smartphones will be charged from 10 to 25 rubles (36-89 cents) per track. Russian music will be priced lower than foreign.
Svyaznoy also plans to offer content to the 14 million members of its bonus program free of charge or in exchange for bonus points.
The company targets an audience of 4 to 5 million monthly users within the next 12 or 18 months and plans to reach a break even point within 30 months, with revenues expected to come from advertising in addition to paid downloads.
Lyudkovsky estimates the costs of running the project will be “several million dollars” a year, with 30% of this expense going to copyright owners. Svyaznoy has already acquired rights to use catalogs of several content aggregators including Yota, the leading Russia WiMAX operator. But Svyaznoy also expects to ink direct contracts with music labels.
Svyazony will be the first mobile retailer to develop such an offer. Among mobile operators, MegaFon operates the website Trava.ru, available exclusively to its subscribers, and MTS develops Omlet.ru, a video and audio platform available to all. VimpelCom, the other leading mobile operator, is also preparing to launch a portal to sell multimedia content in the near future.
