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Tag: Airtel

  • Phonographic Digital will license & collect fees from telcos & streaming services

    MUMBAI: Significant change is afoot in the Indian music industry. Almost unnoticed, a new organisation has cropped up to licence and collect fees from the various telcos and streaming services. Called the Phonographic Digital Ltd (PDL) it was incorporated in March 2017, just as the financial year was coming to a close, with its registered office in Kolkata.

    Earlier, the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which was headed by Vipul Pradhan as its CEO, was mandated to assign licences on behalf of its Indian label members to the various telecom operators such as Airtel, JioMusic, Idea, Vodafone, and streaming services and collect royalties from them.

    The PPL will continue as in the past to be a collection organisation for public performance of sound recordings from establishments, events and radio.

    Read the full report here:

    Indian music industry sets up PDL, a new association for telco licensing

  • CCI rejects Airtel charges against Jio

    MUMBAI: The fair trade regulator has dismissed the case of ‘predatory pricing’ that Airtel alleged against Reliance Jio. Airtel officials declined to comment on the development.

    Just giving free access to its services cannot be termed as ‘anti-competitive’, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) stated.

    Airtel had alleged that Jio, in a bid to race ahead in the telecom competition, had indulged in ‘predatory pricing’ since its commercial launch on 5 September 2016.

    With unfair trade practice of free services, Airtel alleged, Jio had used its financial muscle to gain a foothold into the telecom world of stiff competition.

    Airtel charges, the trade regulator stated, would not be considered ‘anti-competitive’ since Jio’s offers were to attract customers.

    A short-term business offer or strategy of a new entrant to penetrate a market cannot be considered as ‘anti-competitive’ in nature and could not be a subject of investigation, CCI stated.

  • 100% more Airtel data offered in b’band plans

    MUMBAI: Following its rollout of ‘V-Fiber’ superfast broadband to serve the exploding demand for reliable high speed data solutions in Indian homes, now introduces larger bundles of data at existing prices to enable customers to do more New proposition designed to drive adoption of high speed broadband in the country and accelerate the journey towards digitally connected homes

    Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecommunications services provider, has announced refreshed home broadband proposition to serve the exploding demand for high speed data in today’s digital homes and drive the adoption of superfast broadband in the country. The new plans now offer up to 100% more high speed data benefits within the same monthly rentals.

    In-home high speed data consumption in India is increasing exponentially with customers looking to stream HD/4K content, download heavy file across a variety of connected devices like smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs, Internet TV solutions and security solutions etc. Fixed broadband (Wi-Fi) continues to be the preferred mode of high speed data delivery given its consistent speeds and in the near future will also enable the IoT play for homes with connected appliances and much more.

    To serve this growing demand and enable a seamless high speed data experience in a multi-device environment, Airtel has built a future ready network and introduced ‘V-Fiber’ that delivers consistently superfast broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps to homes. The ‘V-Fiber’ high speed broadband experience is available to customers within the same plan rentals and requires only a quick modem switch.

    Airtel’s refreshed broadband plans are designed to unlock the ‘V-Fiber’ superfast broadband experience with generous bundles of high speed data within existing plan rentals that enable Indian homes to get on to the digital super highway.

    For instance, the Rs. 599 plan in Mumbai now offers 20 GB high speed data compared to 8 GB earlier, while the Rs. 699 plan will now offer 30 GB of high speed data compared to 15 GB earlier. The Rs. 999 plan now offers 60 GB compared to 30 GB and the Rs. 2599 plan offers 400 GB compared to 200 GB. Similar large increments in data benefits have been effected at every price point in every city with unlimited calling to any network available across all plans.

    Hemanth Kumar Guruswamy, CEO – Homes, Bharti Airtel (India) said, “Our new plans are aimed at putting India onto the digital superhighway and complement our superfast broadband offerings like ‘V-Fiber’. At Airtel, our mission is to enable a superior digital experience and offer great value to our customers. Our customers can now add to their online experience with exciting speeds backed by unmatched service reliability. We believe these new plans will also drive the adoption of high speed broadband in the country.”

    Existing customers will be upgraded to the new benefits automatically within the current bill cycle while new customers can choose from a host of plans that offer great value backed by best-in-class high speed broadband experience.

    The upgraded plans are yet another addition to Airtel’s initiatives to innovate products that offer great value to customers. Recently, the company rolled out Airtel Surprises and myHome Rewards that offered free additional data benefits to customers.

  • Jio Fiber & Airtel gear up for broadband plans

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio is reportedly offering a minimum of 100Mbps for the home broadband consumers, and the plans are expected to be affordable even as Airtel introduced 250 GB free broadband data plan.

    The commercial roll out of Jio’s Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband service may happen in June 2017, according to a previous report in Teleanalysis.

    Reliance Jio’s Fiber Preview offer has been rolled out in some areas of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, and Vadodara. The service is set for launch in other cities in a phased format.

    In September 2016, some users had discussed how the testing had begun in select residential colonies in the city of Chennai.

    Meanwhile, Airtel has introduced 250 GB free broadband data plan for postpaid customers ahead of the Jio fibre launch.

    Airtel has come up with a promotional offer that gives 5 GB of additional data every month. The company has announced its myHOME offer which is valid for each postpaid connection and digital TV service from 1 July. As per details on the site, the customer will not incur any charges for the extra data given under this offer.

    A user can bundle up to 25 postpaid connections and 25 DTH connections with the broadband service which accounts to 250 GB of additional broadband data per month.

  • Big Magic to air horror show ‘Cheekh..Ek Khaufnak Sach’

    MUMBAI: BIG Magic in providing innovative and appealing content to its viewers. After launching shows in historical, mythological and kids’ fantasy domain, the channel is taking a step forward in its offering to the viewers by adding the horror genre, with an objective to take the value of the brand a notch higher. With an aim to provide high voltage drama every week, the channel is all geared up to entertain its viewers with the upcoming show, ‘Cheekh..Ek Khaufnak Sach’. The show is slated to air from 15th May 2017, every Monday to Friday at 9 PM on BIG Magic.

    With the viewers widening their horizon of entertainment in distinctive genres, Big Magic is providing its viewers a renewed experience by adding a new element to its array of unique shows. Produced by Homi Wadia under the banner Tele Buddies, Cheekh… Ek Khaufnak Sach will showcaseunheard and unseen form of fear through objects. The unique horror show will be on the lines of dark shadows and whistling winds holding secrets to the untold stories that have never been shown on television before. Raising the thriller quotient for the viewers, each story will be narrated in two parts leading the spectators through some of the most surreal, supernatural and paranormal experiences.

    The show’s promotion will be driven by a 360-degree marketing approach to reach out to the target markets through its various campaigns across TV, radio, on-ground and digital platforms.

    Commenting on the launch of the new show, BIG Magic spokesperson said, “We at Big Magic are constantly looking forward at delivering new content in different genres, catering to the viewer’s dynamic needs. We look forward to the launch of our new offering, ‘Cheekh.. Ek Khaufnak Sach’ that will escalate the thrill factor amongst our viewers, whilst continuing to bolster the value we bring to the table, for our stakeholders and consumers.”

    Big Magic is available across all DTH platforms such as Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon, Dish TV, Reliance Digital TV along with all cable operators including Hathway, DD Free Dish, Incable, Digicable, DEN, 7 Star, ABS, Siticable, Star Broadband and GTPL among others.

  • TRAI to probe ‘opaque’ offers to departing customers

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will study complaints about operators doling out customised retention offers to influence subscribers who plan to shift to a rival network. Jio had alleged that incumbent operators are lining up customised offers for subscribers wanting to shift.

    While it may be standard for operators to play up offerings and the strength of their networks to the departing customers, telcos cannot offer plans that they do not file with TRAI.

    TRAI chairman R S Sharma asserted that all offerings by operators need to be non-discriminatory, transparent, and filed with the regulator but refused to be drawn into the specifics, PTI reported.

    Because the tariff has to satisfy the criteria of being non-discriminatory and transparent, Sharma said, these principles would have to be followed.

    In a letter to TRAI, Jio had termed such methods as being “unfair and deceptive”, and claimed that the offers were being presented to customers “surreptitiously” on a one-to-one basis and not available to the public.

    Those companies were not openly publicising such offers on their website as is stipulated, Jio charged, demanding that “strongest action” against the three operators – Vodafone, Airtel, and Idea Cellular — for what it called a gross violation of TRAI norms. However, Airtel and Vodafone had refuted Jio’s allegations.

    As per the norms, while tariffs are under forbearance, every plan has to be filed with the TRAI within seven working days from its launch. If the regulator will call operators for a meeting to resolve the issue, Sharma said the matter was still in a “preliminary” stage.

  • FB Express WiFi to deploy 20k hotspots through Airtel, more tie-ups in pipeline

    MUMBAI: Times are a changing. The cable guy no longer carries optical fibre for satellite TV to the consumer’s house. Entrepreneurs will now establish WiFi hotspots through Facebook to provide internet in public places. Google has already rolled out free Net access through public Wi-Fi at 100 railway stations, in partnership with government’s RailTel. 

    India has a population of around about 1.3 billion people, but according to TRAI report, only 390 million are connected to the internet.

    Facebook’s Express WiFi is a sequel to the Free Basics platform, which has partnered with entrepreneurs to help them establish public WiFi hotspots. Facebook has partnered with Airtel to deploy 20,000 internet hotspots through the Wi-Fi service in a few months. However, unlike Free Basics, Express Wi-Fi works on a ‘paid’ model. 

    FB head of connectivity solutions – Asia Pacific Munish Seth said that it was working with ISP and operator partners to test Express WiFi with public WiFi deployments. 

    Indians would now be able to purchase reliable, fast and affordable data packs in four states (Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Meghalaya). Express WiFi is being deployed in partnership with ISPs — LMES in Rajasthan, AirJaldi in Uttarakhand, Tikona in Gujarat, and with Shaildhar in Meghalaya shortly. Express Wi-Fi is operational in four countries excluding India, that is, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia. 

    Airtel COO (India & South Asia) Ajai Puri said that the initiative would provide affordable access to high speed data to the underserved segment thus contributing to the Government’s Digital India vision.

    While Facebook did not elaborate, it plans to have similar tie-ups with other telcos, including Vodafone and Reliance Jio. It is in talks with state governments and government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, to establish similar hotspots.

    Also Read:

    FB targets next billion Indians with local content and Express Wifi

    FB adds India-specific options, shows how to build communities

    Jaitley, stakeholders discuss broadband speed & penetration, wi-fi, digitisation, open Net & cyber security

    Facebook exec ponders: How to hold the brain’s attention?

  • Airtel ties up with Baahubali 2 for special experience

    NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel and ‘Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion’ has tied up to roll out special products for the fans of the forthcoming epic mythological film.

    A range of Airtel ‘Baahubali 2’ products were unveiled by the upcoming film’s star cast in Hyderabad to add to the excitement around the arrival of the one of the most anticipated films in the country.

    For Baahubali fans, Airtel has launched a special ‘Baahubali-2’ 4G SIM with free 4G data benefits to enable customers to experience the epic drama on India’s fastest mobile network. In addition, the Company launched special ‘Baahubali -2’ 4G Recharge Packs that offer great value to customers.

    Customers can also enjoy content like the making of the film and a host of such other videos from the film on Airtel Movies. Airtel’s OTT Wynk Music will have the star cast of ‘Baahubali -2’ as ‘Guest Editors’ on the app and users can enjoy specially curated Playlists.

    Bharti Airtel director – consumer business & chief marketing officer Raj Pudipeddi said, “As India’s largest and fastest mobile network, Airtel is thrilled to partner with ‘Baahubali 2’ to deliver an exciting experience to our customers. We invite Baahubali fans to get up close with the epic on their smartphones with Airtel and enjoy great content backed by a superior mobile broadband experience.”

    Bharti Airtel Andhra Pradesh & Telangana CEO Venkatesh Vijayraghavan added, “Customers can now also experience high speed data on the seamless Airtel Baahubali mobile broadband network to enjoy all the film content from the internet. Customers can also enjoy our specially curated Wynk Music playlist, exclusive videos on Airtel Movies and much more apart from trying their luck at exciting online contests.”

    Arka Mediaworks CEO Shobu Yarlagadda said, “We are excited about the partnership as it makes brand Baahubali more accessible to our audience. Currently Baahubali has expanded into a big franchise that includes comic books, novels, animated TV series, mobile game and a first of its kind virtual reality experience. Through this partnership with Airtel, we will expand our ability to provide the Baahubali phenomena and entertainment on-the-go, anywhere, and anytime to our audience.”

    In addition to these, Airtel will introduce an online engagement programME across various digital platforms to bring the exciting world of Baahubali closer to its consumers. An outdoor campaign will also be live soon making the movie and Airtel 4G come alive across customer touch points in the country. Customers can stay tuned to ‘Airtel India’ on Facebook and ‘@airtelindia’ on Twitter.

  • Dentsu Webchutney appoints Ajay Ahluwalia as ECD

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has roped in Ajay Ahluwalia as executive creative director. He will be based out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. His last stint was with Contract Advertising where he handled some of the biggest brands in the country including Microsoft, Ten Sports and JK Tyres.

    With over 20 years of cross-category, cross-platform experience along with a diverse set of exposure spanning sales, marketing, photography, martial arts, and naturally, creative, Ahluwalia is all set to lead the charge for the agency.

    The keen motorcyclist and the black belt holder expressed his delight by saying, “I’m excited to join Dentsu Webchutney and the young brigade that is bubbling with energy to break the conventions with digital innovations.”

    Not only has Ahluwalia launched brands like Samsung and Bacardi in India, but also has helped nurture names like NIIT, and set up Oxygen – one of India’s first agencies to engage in the digital workspace.

    Commenting on Ahluwalia’s appointment, Dentsu Webchutney co-founder and chief creative officer Sudesh Samaria said, “It’s great to have someone of Ajay’s experience onboard in a digital environment, especially when the lines between mainline and digital are blurring as we speak. We look forward to him driving infectious ideas which resonate with the Dentsu Webchutney culture.”

    Dentsu Webchutney remains by far, the most awarded agency. Webchutney’s clientele include Airtel, Flipkart, Quikr, Swiggy, Tetra Pak, Canon, Whirlpool, Indusind Bank, Red Bull amongst others.

  • Airtel & Amazon partner for Fire TV Stick with voice remote

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with Amazon for Amazon’s Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote, which was launched in India today.

    Customers purchasing Amazon Fire TV will get free 100 GB high speed data via Airtel Broadband or Airtel 4G Home Wi-Fi to enable them to enjoy online content on their TV. In addition, Airtel Movies, the OTT app from Airtel, will offer Airtel mobile and broadband customers access to an exciting collection of thousands of popular Bollywood movies & premium TV shows across a host of genres.

    Bharti Airtel consumer business and chief marketing officer Raj Pudipeddi said, “We invite customers to experience the Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote Fire TV on Airtel and also enjoy thousands of movies with Airtel Movies.”

    While the data offer can be availed by existing as well as new Airtel home broadband and 4G home Wi-Ficustomers, free access to content on Airtel Movies will be available to all Airtel mobile customers as well. The data quota can be availed in buckets of 35GB per month for three months from the date of activation. To activate the Airtel offer, customers of Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote have to just launch Airtel Movies and follow a few simple steps.

    Airtel 4G is available to customers in all 22 circles across India and the Airtel 4G home Wi-Fi device enables a seamless high speed Wi-Fi experience in homes with the added benefit of portability. Airtel has been rated as fastest mobile network in India by Ookla. Airtel Broadband is available to customers in 87 cities and offers high speed broadband with speeds up to 100 Mbps with cutting edge offerings like V-Fiber that power digital homes of the future.

    Airtel 4G Home Wi-Fi is currently available only in Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Kolkata, Punjab and Maharashtra.