MAM

Choosing the Right Indian Virtual Number for Your Needs

Published

5 months ago

September 22, 2025

The need for a local Indian phone number is a common challenge for global businesses, travelers, and privacy-conscious individuals in 2025. The decision to buy an indian number for OTP is the first step, but understanding your options ensures you get a service that perfectly matches your requirements. Not all virtual numbers are created equal; some are designed for all-purpose communication, while others are specialized for tasks like receiving SMS.

Choosing the right type of number is the key to a successful and cost-effective experience. This article will break down the different kinds of virtual numbers available for India, helping you select the perfect tool for your specific task, whether it’s a one-time verification or long-term business communication.

The Foundation: Why You Need an Indian Phone Number for OTP

Before we dive into the different types of numbers, it’s important to understand the core requirement of India’s digital landscape: the OTP (One-Time Password). Nearly every reputable app, e-commerce site, and online service in India uses SMS-based OTPs to verify user identity. This is a fundamental security measure, and without a number capable of receiving these texts, you are effectively locked out. Therefore, any virtual number you consider must, at a minimum, be able to reliably receive an SMS. All indian phone numbers for otp are built on this basic but critical capability.

Option 1: The All-Purpose Virtual Mobile Number India

This is the most common and versatile option. A virtual mobile number is a real Indian mobile number (with a +91 prefix) that can handle both voice calls and SMS messages, just like a regular number from a physical SIM card.

This type of number is the ideal choice for users who need maximum flexibility. It is best suited for:

• General-Purpose Verification: It is universally compatible with any service that sends an indian phone number otp, making it the safest and most reliable bet for any kind of registration.

• Two-Way Business Communication: If you are a business that needs to not only verify accounts but also receive calls from Indian customers or make outbound calls that appear to be from a local number, this is the only option that will work.

• Enhanced Platform Compatibility: Some services have advanced systems that check if a number is a mobile line. Using a virtual mobile number ensures you pass these checks without issue.

When you need this all-purpose functionality, the quality of the provider is key. Getting a virtual number in india from a specialized provider like HotTelecom https://hottelecom.biz/ ensures that the number is a high-quality, clean mobile line. They focus on providing reliable routes for both voice and SMS, so when you use their virtual indian phone number for sms, you know the critical verification codes will arrive, and if you need to make a call, the quality will be clear. This reliability makes a professional mobile number a wise investment.

Option 2: The SMS-Only Indian Number for Pure Verification

For users with a more specific and limited need, an SMS-only number can be an excellent and cost-effective choice. As the name implies, this type of number is configured exclusively to receive SMS messages. It cannot make or receive voice calls.

This specialized tool is best for:

1. Budget-Conscious Users: Since the service doesn’t include the more complex infrastructure for voice calls, these numbers are often slightly more affordable.

2. High-Volume, Automated Verifications: Businesses or developers who need to verify a large number of accounts programmatically and have no intention of making calls from them.

3. Maximum Privacy and No Interruptions: For individuals who want a number for verification only and want to guarantee that they will never receive spam or unwanted voice calls on that line.

Option 3: The Online Indian Number for Temporary or Disposable Use

This option is less about the technology and more about the subscription plan. A disposable or temporary number is typically a mobile or SMS-only number that you rent for a very short period—a day, a week, or a month.

This approach is perfect for:

• One-Time Sign-Ups: If you need to get an indian virtual number for otp just once for a service you will likely never use again, a short-term rental is the most economical choice.

• Protecting Your Primary Number: It’s the classic “burner number” scenario. Use it for online marketplaces, forums, or any situation where you don’t want to leave a permanent link to your real identity.

However, there is a crucial consideration with this approach. If you use a disposable number to sign up for an important service and then let the number expire, you will be permanently locked out of that account if you are ever asked to re-verify your identity via SMS.

Choosing the Right Tool for the Job

Ultimately, the best indian virtual phone number is the one that aligns with your specific goals. By understanding the difference between an all-purpose mobile number, a focused SMS-only line, and a short-term disposable plan, you can move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Take a moment to assess your needs, and you can confidently buy an indian virtual number that serves as the perfect tool to connect you with India’s vibrant digital world.

MAM

Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

Published

3 days ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

7 days ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

Published

7 days ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.