MobiGyaan

Airtel to launch 3G before the end of 2010

Bharti Airtel today announced that it will launch its  3G services before the end of 2010. Tata DOCOMO and Vodafone already announced there 3G launch dates, Tata DOCOMO will launch 3G around Diwali and Vodafone will launch it in first quarter of 2011.

Airtel has 3G spectrum in 13 telecom circles across India.  These 13 telecom circles also constitute 68% of Airtel’s revenue market share. This includes key metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, which account for 21% of all data traffic in the country and are expected to have the strongest uptake of 3G services.

Airtel is also in advanced discussions with other quality operators to offer 3G services to its customers across the country. This will not only ensure seamless roaming, but also offer 3G broadband to its entire customer base in India. 

Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said, “3G services will mark the beginning of the next phase of India’s telecom growth story and elevate India’s telecom sector at par with most advanced telecom markets in the world. 3G services have the potential to transform the lives of millions of Indians by taking a variety of life enhancing services on high speed broadband to the remotest corners and bridge the digital divide. In addition, 3G services will have a strong multiplier effect on economic growth and bring in enhanced efficiencies. It will be Airtel’s endeavor to lead India’s journey on the information superhighway with world-class 3G services.”

Now call for Rs.1/3 mins on Airtel Maharashtra

Airtel, the leading service provider of India has launched a scheme wherein all calls will be charged on the basis of 3 minutes pulse instead of the traditional 60 seconds or the per second pulse. We have already seen similar offer from Reliance last year where all local and std calls were charged at Rs. 1/3 minutes. However Reliance revoked this offer this year and started offering same scheme for Rs. 1.20/3 minutes for new customers. Airtel has similar plans as they launched a special voucher priced at Rs. 22 which offers All On-net local and std calls at Rs. 1/3 minutes and all Off-net calls for Rs.1.20/3 minutes. This voucher comes with a validity of 30 days. There wont be any change in the sms tariff.

• All Airtel to Airtel local and std calls priced at Rs. 1/3 minutes
• All local and std calls to other network at Rs. 1.2/3 minutes
• No change in sms tariff
• Tariff Validity- 30 days

Airtel gears up for 3G roll out - selects network partners

Airtel today announced that it has chosen Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies as network partners to launch 3G Services in India. These partners will plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G HSPA Network in Bharti Airtel 3G license circles.

Further strengthening its relationship with Ericsson, Bharti Airtel has awarded majority of the 3G License Circles to Ericsson India. With this, Ericsson continues to be Bharti’s largest Network Partner across 2G and 3G circles in the country.

On the same lines, Bharti has also expanded its relationship with Nokia Siemens Networks, which would manage Bharti’s 3G Network in 3 circles across India.

Bharti Airtel has also introduced Huawei Technologies as the 3rd partner for offering 3G services in a few circles.

Airtel ties up with Indian Postal Services in Karnataka for collection of documents

Airtel  has tied up with the India Post in Karnataka for collection of documents.  This initiative helps all subscribers to avail of services like, Airtel prepaid and postpaid subscription form, assistance in filling the form, collection of documents, authenticating, validating & dispatch of the documents to Bharti Airtel. This service will be available in the 59 Head Post offices 1950 sub post offices in Karnataka. Airtel customers will have access to around 2000 post offices.

Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has set a deadline (October 31) for all telecom service providers across the country to complete the validation and authentication of subscriber documents.  Adhering to DOT deadline for re-verification, all telecom providers are set to take stringent initiatives to streamline the documentation verification process.

Bharti Airtel exits Bulk SMS Business

Before elaborating on the title, All of us should virtually pat the back of Airtel management for this step.

It was recently announced that Bharti Airtel has decided to exit the Bulk SMS Business as they have understood that the customers get irritated by such Spam Messaging. This decision is really appreciative, more so at a time, when DoT and TRAI are unable to explore ways of getting freedom from the commercial calls and message services. Thus, Bharti Airtel have become the first Service Provider to take this step of exiting Bulk SMS Business, which is expected to be around INR 20 crores monthly. 

Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel quoted, "For us, the bulk SMS business case doesn’t stack up against our priority for the customer. We wanted to take a leadership position in this area as pesky calls and messages have become a huge irritant for consumers". Going further, he also suggested that Other Operators should too discourage this citing convenience issues of The Customer and should levy a termination charge of 5 to 10 paise per sms for the same.

In a probablity where The Regulators fail; Perhaps, Self Regulation should succeed.

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Bharti Airtel launches Global Data Services in Thailand & Malaysia

Bharti Airtel, India's Numero-Uno & a leading Global Player having its presence in 19 countries across Asia & Africa, is set to strengthen their portfolio by launching Global Data Services in Thailand & Malaysia. The 'Go Global' Message here is loud and clear by offering services which would include IPL, Managed MPLS and Ethernet. TRUE International Gateway and Telecom Malaysia are the Associations which Bharti is banking on in Thailand & Malaysia respectively.  

Ajay Chitkara, CEO - Global Data Business, Bharti Airtel, stated his business mission by saying, "The launch of our services in Thailand & Malaysia fall in line with this organizational strategy, enabling us to cater to two of the fastest growing international bandwidth markets. We strongly believe that our global reach and comprehensive product portfolio will allow us to effectively service the needs of customers in these regions".  

 The unique features related to this launch entail -

On the other hand, the Global Data portfolio includes services - solutions for voice and data connectivity, collaboration services, co-location, carrier outsourcing and content distribution through its next-generation high speed submarine and fiber network.

Better listen, the Airtel Jingle is just getting louder & louder !!

Nokia’s Ovi Life Tools launched on Bharti Airtel’s mobile service

Nokia Ovi Life Tools are now available for Bharti Airtel subscribers. Nokia and Bharti Airtel joined hands to launch Ovi Life Tools service targeted at providing Airtel’s mobile customers with access to relevant content on agriculture, education and entertainment. The partnership between Nokia  and Airtel will let the Indian users access to information available in a simple icon based, graphically rich user interface.

Airtel users will be able to activate Ovi Life Tools on their mobiles and can subscribe to Ovi Life Tools starting at Rs 10 per pack.

This service is available on a range of Nokia handsets including the entry level devices and is available in 11 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi in addition to English.

Ovi Life tools on Airtel includes :

• Agriculture Services : Personalised agriculture related information, weather updates, crop advisory and market prices of produce.
• Education Services : Learn English, General Knowledge and Exam preperation modules covering State and Central Boards
• Entertainment Services : Download wallpapers, ringtones, RBT, games, jokes, news  etc.

Airtel launches Super 5 Packs

Airtel recently launched 'Airtel Super 5' Packs which are somewhat similar to Vodafone's Rs.4/day packs. Under 'Airtel Super 5' Packs Airtel is offering  5 types of packs at the price of Rs. 5/day. These packs are Local + STD minutes pack, Airtel to Airtel call rate pack, Night minutes pack, Local + National SMS pack and Mobile Internet pack. To subscribe any of these packs you will have to dial *222# and choose from a menu of offers. You will get a confirmation SMS once the pack has been activated on your account. Benefit and validity will be as per your circle offer. Rs.5 will be deducted from your balance as pack charges.

Here are the details of each pack as per various Telecom Circles click here. (PDF file)

Airtel daily packs are not available through e-recharges but only can be availed only by dialing *222#.  You can activate more than 1 pack if you want, and also you can activate any of the 1 day packs as many number of times as required in a day. The benefit will get accumulated and will be valid till midnight however you can not activate Airtel to Airtel call rate pack multiple times in a day.

Sunil Bharti Mittal unveils 5 storey high mural at the Airtel Centre, Gurgaon

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Group, officially unveiled a 5 storey high mural conceptualized and created by Manav Gupta at the Airtel Centre in Gurgaon, recently. This piece of art is co- created by over 3500 employees of the Airtel Centre and thereby encapsulates the collective spirit, innovative minds and creative approach of the employees of the company.

Airtel Centre in Gurgaon spread over 6, 85,921 sqft of vibrant efficient space. It houses all the businesses of the Group viz. Mobile services, DTH, Enterprise and Telemedia.

Speaking about the creation of the mural, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said, “The elements of nature have been woven together to capture the core values of Airtel and highlight the One Airtel Spirit. It is a true reflection of the collective approach & innovative minds of our company. We thank all the Airtel employees who participated in co-creating this mural with Manav Gupta, who has been the "Sutradhar" in channelizing our vision into this mega masterpiece.”

Spread over five floors and towering over 60 feet, the interior of the building has been used as a canvas to lay out the mega masterpiece.

Manav Gupta, an internationally acclaimed multifaceted painter, poet and performance artist, undertook the goal of creating a contemporary work of art “Tree of life” at the Airtel centre. Under the guidance of Manav Gupta, around 3500 Airtel employees created the mega masterpiece.

Mr. Mittal giving a final stroke to the Airtel Mega Masterpiece