Telefónica and Círculo de Readers create Nubico

Apparently, Amazon is the giant to beat or beat, whichever you prefer. From the users point of view, we are delighted with your policy of lowering prices, of facilitating self-publishing, of making purchases at a single click, of not having to enter our data over and over again to make purchases, etc.

From the point of view of your potential competitors, these policies are not so attractive, so Telefónica and Círculo de Lectores, owned by Bertelsmann and Planeta, have teamed up to create a platform which they have named Nubic and that it intends to present itself as an alternative to Amazon in Spain.

They actually say out there that They intend to stand up to Amazon, but the only way to do it is to present a viable alternative that convinces the public and can compete with Amazon in price, convenience and catalog. I do not want to be ominous, but in the thinking minds of Telefónica and Círculo de Lectores there must have been some revolution if they really take the step that leads them to stand up to Amazon ...

El proposed operation for Nubico it is very similar to that of 24Symbols, the Spanish streaming reading platform: a monthly subscription of less than € 10 and you read while you pay, if you stop paying, you stop reading. With this monthly fee, the user will have access to the entire catalog, except for the news that will have to be paid for separately. And I say that it reminds me a lot of 24Symbols because they do not plan to allow the download, but rather the access to the catalog. So it may be a good project but nothing new (at least until we have more details).

At this point they are negotiating with publishers to close a catalog large enough to be an incentive and, possibly, consider the possibility of expanding in the Spanish-speaking areas of America. If this project is consolidated, it could mean the creation of a giant of digital books with a potential market that exceeds 400 million readers.

Positive points that I see Nubico

• If they manage to involve a large number of publishers, the catalog can be much more than interesting.
• Access to news at a much lower price than the current one will be very attractive.
• The reduced flat rate.
• The possibility of using it with multiple readers and the existence of apps for iOS and Android.
• It seems that they want access to content to be done easily.

Not so positive points that Nubico should clarify for me

Until I clarify them I do not know whether to call them cons.

• Why are they called pioneers when there are similar (but smaller) projects like 24Symbols or reedig.com?
• Will they require publishers that the books be correctly laid out and proofread or will they continue to go from quality as many of them do at the moment with their digital books?
• Will the control system or DRM or whatever they want to use be "discreet" or will I have to spend hours swearing in Aramaic every time I want to read one of their books with the reader?

I find this an interesting initiative, as long as it assumes that publishers and content providers are serious about improve the reading experience of the user of electronic readers. We want a good catalog, ease of access and quality in the form (the background depends on each one). If it is going to be one more Libranda ... you can save money and self-promotion.

Further information: 24Symbols: a Spanish project in the world of ebooks

Sources - Europa Press

Images - goXunuReviews (CC license), Economic News