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Tag: Airtel

  • Disney ties up with AirTel for mobisodes

    Disney ties up with AirTel for mobisodes

    MUMBAI: After Star India, it is Walt Disney Television International (India) that is exploring the mobile-enabled episode (mobisode) phenomenon.

    The company has tied up with AirTel to develop mobisodes, games, ringtones, wallpapers and animation in the ‘Disney Mobile Theatre’ featuring popular cartoons. This is the third telecom operator Walt Disney will have tied up with, the other two being in Asia.

    “It is a sunrise segment for Walt Disney. But it is rapidly growing, particularly in the East Asian markets like Japan,” The Walt Disney Company India managing director Rajat Jain said.

    AirTel will, thus, become the first provider of Disney Mobile Theatre in India providing characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto on the mobile.

    The wallpapers will be priced at Rs 10 per download, whereas the mobisodes, videos, ringtones and Hello Tunes have been priced at Rs 15. A Disney game can be downloaded for a charge of Rs 99. However, company officials were reluctant to divulge the revenue sharing ratio between the two for the same.

    AirTel customers can have access to six Disney animated series in the form of 30 second episodes exclusively made for mobile devices. The content can be downloaded from Airtel’s entertainment portal – Airtel Live! and music and ringtones can also be downloaded from Airtel’s Hello Tunes.

    “With voice pricing coming down, we expect this to be a significant revenue stream for us. Across the globe, telecom operators generate 12-20 per cent revenues from non voice segment,” Bharti Airtel director marketing and communications Hemant Sachdev said.

    “We have always admired the Disney brand for the difference it makes to lives across the globe – bringing millions of people fun, laughter and wholesome entertainment. We are now pleased to partner with Disney to deliver outstanding creative content and entertainment. With Disney Mobile Theatre, Airtel customers can enjoy the Disney experience on the mobile for the first time in India from wherever they are,” he added.

    Walt Disney Internet Group executive vice president and managing director international Mark Handler said, “The launch of Disney branded mobile content on Airtel, including Disney Mobile Theatre and personalisation, content and games, combines Disney’s rich story telling legacy and unparalleled brand equity with Airtel’s leadership in wireless voice and data services to create an engaging and unique mobile experience for customers.”

    Added Jain: “India is a priority for the entire company, and we are delivering on our strength to expand our presence here. We have a huge competitive advantage, thanks to the strength of the Disney brand, which is aspirational. We embrace new technology innovations in developing quality Disney entertainment and as leading content creators are best positioned to capture new ways of delivering it when and where the consumer demands. Using technology to advance our content and its distribution will play a fundamental role in securing our future.”

    The Walt Disney Internet Group has mobile content distribution in 12 other markets in the Asia Pacific region including Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Macau. Close to 695 million mobile consumers have access to Disney mobile content in this region.

    Late last year, Star India had tied up with Hutch to create mobisodes of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (TGILC), which aired on Star One. The price of a one time download of a mobisode of TGILC is Rs 10 per. Additionally, subscribers can also call 7827 (Star India’s short code) to listen to the TGILC jokes for Rs 6.

    Soon after, Zee Telefilms director and business head of Zee TV channel Punit Goenka had told Indiantelevision.com that the company was seriously exploring the phenomenon of mobisodes and were in the process of identifying the properties which were best suited for it.

    Now with Disney also tapping the rapidly growing mobile content and entertainment space, it won’t be long before the others too follow suit.

  • Airtel crosses two million customer landmark in Delhi

    Airtel crosses two million customer landmark in Delhi

    Airtel has crossed the two million customer mark in Delhi. With this, Airtel becomes the first mobile operator to complete this milestone in the Capital. The journey to the two million landmark has been stupendous having achieved the second million customers in two years eight months. On this momentous occasion, Airtel felicitated Mr. Vajinder, a dairy owner from Narela village, as its two millionth customer.

     

    Airtel’s commitment to Delhi is amply evident over the years as it has expanded its robust state-of-the art network and world class customer service to connect all of Delhi and the NCR region. In FY 05-06, Airtel invested over Rs 3000 million in Delhi. For the year ahead, Airtel will continue to focus and build on its network and customer service. Airtel currently has over 1600 cell sites in Delhi and the NCR region and plans to increase its number of cell sites by approximately 50%. It also plans to increase its number of Airtel relationship centers by 50% from the present 70. Airtel also has close to 25000 retail outlets.

     

    K Srinivas, CEO, Airtel, Mobiles services, Delhi circle said, “We are delighted with the overwhelming response from our valued customers as we cross this significant milestone. Their confidence in us has helped reiterate our leadership position in Delhi. This achievement, will inspire us to keep up the momentum that will see us scale new heights. Going forward, we will continue with our strategy of broad basing our consumer market. We will deploy a more segmented approach to the market and increase our penetration and preference amongst youth, low end customers and SMEs. Investing in the expansion of our state-of-the art network and infrastructure facilities will be key focus so as to provide unmatched quality of service and coverage to our customers across Delhi. I would like to thank Delhi for helping us achieve the two million mark.”

  • Zee Sports to telecast ONGC Cup NFL matches live

    Zee Sports to telecast ONGC Cup NFL matches live

    MUMBAI: Zee Sports will telecast five matches of the ONGC Cup National Football League, starting April 16, 2006 live and exclusive from Cooperage Stadium. The matches will involve Mumbai clubs Mahindra United and Air India.

    The schedule runs from 19 April to 23 April. The telecast will begin at 4:30 pm.

    To popularize the matches in Mumbai, Zee Sports is undertaking several multimedia marketing and promotional campaign across the city. The campaign will include several below the line activities including school contact programs, road shows, pub screenings, special BEST buses, railway platform activities etc will be undertaken in several parts of the cities.

    The Zeebras finally return to their hometown Mumbai to enthrall the local fans. In line with international concepts of cheerleaders backing major sporting spectacles and each sport club having their distinctive brand of cheerleaders, Zee Sports had introduced the Zeebras as their mascots of promoting Indian football.

    Former England International player Russell Osman and Zee Sports Debayan Sen will be the co-commentator and commentator respectively. Russell Osman is an ex-England International footballer, capped on eleven occasions. Also Zee Sports’ popular anchor Mayanti Langer along with noted football expert Novy Kapadia would be doing the preview, half time and review shows on every game from the studios in Delhi, states an official release.

    For the National Football League, Zee Sports has ONGC, National Insurance Company, Indian, Airtel, Tata Tiscon, Khadim’s, Coco- Cola, DS Group, and West Bengal IT Department among others as broadcast and on ground sponsors of for the coverage of the ONGC Cup 10th National Football League, the release adds.

  • Airtel launches customer care solution NetXpert

    Airtel launches customer care solution NetXpert

    MUMBAI: Internet service provider Bharti Tele-Ventures has launched an automated customer support service NetXpert. The company, in association with California-based SupportSoft, has introduced the service to its DSL (digital subscriber line, a fixed broadband connection) subscribers to simplify installation and help overcome snags.

    Airtel broadband subscribers in Bangalore will be the first in the country to receive NetXpert.

    The NetXpert suite comprises three applications – Installer, Agent and Chat. With these, subscribers will be able to diagnose and solve problems without making calls to customer care agents. NetXpert is based on SupportSoft’s products for real-time customer support, which are used by 38 million broadband customers outside India.

    Connectivity, browser and e-mail related issues are immediately resolved by NetXpert Agent, while the Installer helps subscribers install their connection without assistance. Installer also automatically detects system and network issues. It is based on SmartAccess, which allows the ISP to save on manpower as there are no longer time-consuming household visits by service technicians, states an official release.

    The Chat application, based on SupportSoft’s LiveAssist, allows Airtel’s customer service representatives to chat online with up to four customers at a time. This reduces the wait time by taking recourse to a different, widespread communication medium, the release adds.