Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, has announced that Telegram Premium will launch this month. There has been speculation of a premium tier for a while, but now it’s confirmed. Features that are free on Telegram now will stay free but those who pay for premium will get additional features, higher speeds, and more resources.
A few days ago, Neowin reported on some of the features that would be in Telegram Premium. These include a 4 GB file sharing limit, support for more symbols in the bio, faster download speeds, transcription of voice messages, premium stickers, a profile badge, advanced chat management, and more. All this will reportedly cost $4.99 per month but the firm hasn’t confirmed this just yet.
In the statement, Durov said that the firm has experimented with privacy-focused ads in public one-to-many channels and that those trials have been more successful than hoped. However, he has decided that it’d be better if Telegram was primarily funded through a premium subscription model by its users.
The premium subscription will turn Telegram into a more viable company as it will have a revenue stream to help it continue operating. So far, things look good for those who want to remain on the free tier. Hopefully, Telegram will not renege on its promise to keep existing features free going into the future.