Amazon is allegedly planning to launch an add-supported video service that’s going to be free and separate from the company’s $99 Prime Instant Video price plan, according to the New York Post.

This is not the first time readers hear about this, as the Wall Street Journal mentioned the same news in March of this year, news which was denied by Amazon quickly after. However, the NY post claims to have a potential advertiser as a reliable source and the new service is now on the move. Nothing is mentioned about pricing but it is believed that Amazon will use this free, new service as a way to compete with its arch rival, Netflix.

Amazon will also use this service as a way of encouraging users to start paying for Prime. Even though Amazon currently allows non-prime users to access a limited selection of Prime shows, with a lot of commercials in between, the new free or low cost service is expected to bring even more subscribers to Prime Instant Video.

What makes the news more plausible is the fact that Amazon could actually use ads as a support since they can directly link to a purchase page on Amazon. To sign into the service you will still need an Amazon account, even though you are not interested in purchasing Prime.

The service is set to be launched sometime next year and some of the things that should be expected by the customers are limited monthly plays, severe ad dependency and little to no mobile support. However, if the free service reaches its goal, Amazon will become a serious competitor against Netflix, even though it has only a tenth of the users that Netflix currently has.

Users that are in search of an online video, music or TV streaming service and do not want to pay for a subscription can easily turn out to the Amazon free service. However, further information is needed in order to see the downsides as well as the upsides.

An Amazon press release is expected to confirm the news from New York post.