Murdoch to charge mobile readers

Rupert Murdoch has hinted at plans to charge iPhone and Blackberry users for access to the Wall Street Journal, which is currently offered as a free mobile application.

Murdoch has asked users if they would be willing to pay a subscription for the mobile version of the WSJ, as he hopes to introduce a micropayment scheme for mobile users after the success of charging online users, according to reports.

Online readers were thought to be up in arms about paying a $100+ subscription fee to access the WSJ online after the newspaper launched a free-of-charge iPhone application in April.

However, this week mobile users were faced with the threat of charges as well when asked to complete a survey on their phones, which said: “If full access to Mobile Reader required a paid subscription, how likely would you be to subscribe?”.

The WSJ is yet to unveil the results of the survey, but it is thought Murdoch’s plans will go ahead as the iPhone application was downloaded more than 300,000 times during the first three weeks of availability.

Recent iPhone software upgrades will enable Murdoch to create a mobile micropayment scheme, as previously companies could only charge users to download an application once.

The 3.0 iPhone operating system allows app creators to charge users on an on-going basis, such as via subscriptions or one-off micropayments to access particular content.

Murdoch also plans to set up a new similar system for online users, which will give people the option to subscribe to premium content or alternatively pay an individual fee for an article.

In April, Murdoch said: “People are used to reading everything on the net for free, and that’s going to have to change.”

Last week, The New York Times also announced plans to start charging users to access its mobile edition, following the success of the iPhone app.

However, the paper currently offers free online access.