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Tata Indicom Non Stop Mobile

Tata Indicom has launched a new scheme, Non Stop Mobile, under which the validity of a pre-paid connection is extended for two years upon a single recharge, thus freeing mobile subscribers from monthly recharges.

There is no monthly commitment to recharge. Above all, the recharge coupons are available from Rs.50 with 100 percent talk time.

Some noteworthy figures from the article.

At present Tata Indicom ‘True Paid’ launched in January this year has two million subscribers. However, they are targeting around 10 million subscriber base by March 2006…

As on September 30, the company’s subscriber base stood at 5.6 million spread across 1500 towns.

Blackberry Services Now on Nokia

With the introduction of BlackBerry Connect in the country, Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) plan to extend BlackBerry wireless services to the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i. Airtel’s BlackBerry portfolio will also include BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry 7100g

With this move, Airtel intends to offer customers a wider range of BlackBerry-enabled devices to suit their varying needs and preferences. The company also aims to provide IT departments, the added advantage of being able to support multiple-device types with the existing security and infrastructure.

Users of the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i will now be able to enjoy features such as push-based BlackBerry e-mail delivery, attachment viewing, wireless e-mail synchronization, as also remote address look-up, policy enforcement, IT commands, Triple DES encryption and Wireless calendar synchronization.

Airtel has made BlackBerry Services available exclusively for its customers, starting at Rs 499 per month. Corporate and SME customers can opt for the unlimited data monthly rental plan of Rs 899 per month. For prosumers, this plan would cost Rs 1099 per month.

The BlackBerry Internet Service will allow smaller businesses and individuals, access of up to 10 e-mail accounts from a single device. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server software will integrate with IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise and Microsoft Exchange, and work with existing enterprise systems to facilitate push-based, wireless access to e-mail and other corporate data.

The Nokia 9300 smartphone is available for Rs 29,000, the Nokia 9500
Communicator is priced at Rs 34,500 and the Sony Ericsson P910i is available for Rs 27,995.

Manoj Kohli, president – mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, "Email continues to be a key communication medium and research indicates that the first application most mobile users like to see integrated into their mobile phones is their email. Emails also have one of the greatest impacts on productivity. A constantly widening group of mobile professionals have already recognized the productivity benefits of BlackBerry. Our announcement today of extending the BlackBerry service to a much wider range of new and stylish mobile phone handsets, allows us to address the needs of a broader target group of mobile users, thereby further catalyzing the adoption and usage of BlackBerry in India."

Chakrapani GK, country manager – enterprise solutions, Nokia India, said, "The availability of BlackBerry services to Nokia’s high-end enterprise devices, marks the convergence of two eagerly anticipated, business focused wireless products. The growth in demand for mobility solutions has substantially expanded over the last couple of years, and by offering BlackBerry on our smartphones, we are offering a truly powerful tool, complete with voice and data solutions, both for business and individual users."

Sudhin Mathur, general manager, Sony Ericsson India, said, "We’re delighted to be adding BlackBerry to the palette of solutions we support with our P910i, thereby further expanding customer choice. The P910i smartphone, which is a multi-faceted device offering productivity, entertainment & communications solutions will now also offer this proven, market leading mobile email & data solution. We are constantly seeking to offer our consumer the very best in usage experience through various innovative means, and this inclusion of BlackBerry is yet another step in that direction."

Source:TechTree

Airtel to invest Rs 400 Cr in Karnataka

Airtel, a leading mobile services provider in the country, would invest Rs 400 crores during the year 2005-06 as part of its expansion plan in Karnataka, Company Executive Director (Southern Region-Mobility) Atul Bindal said today

Bangalore: Airtel, a leading mobile services provider in the country, would invest Rs 400 crores during the year 2005-06 as part of its expansion plan in Karnataka, Company Executive Director (Southern Region-Mobility) Atul Bindal said today.

Talking to newsmen here, he said that with 1.5 million customers in the state, Karnataka was the second largest Circle in Bharti Televentures’ network which is playing a pioneering role in increasing mobile penetration in the country.

Mr Bindal said that with the projected expansion plan, the company by end of the year planning to reach out to approximately 45 per cent of the population in the state with a robust network that will span about 730 towns. It was intended to set up 600 additional cell sites across the state taking the total number to 1800 to ensure better reach than competitors.

The idea was to expand mobile network in rural areas and drive segmented applications and value added services in urban and semi urban markets, he said and added that the Company see lot of potential for development in Northern Districts like Gulbarga and Hubli.

Bharati Televentures COO Deepak Mehrotra said that the Company has adopted a three prong strategy–innovation, quality and outsourcing, to achieve its planned development. Bharati has recently signed agreements to outsource its call center operations to some of the best international BPOs. The agreement with Hinduja TMT, IBM Daksh, Mphasis and TeleTech services would enhance quality of customer service delivery to its customers across the country, he added.

Mr Mehrotra said that Airtel has moved towards setting up of a Future Factory in Bangalore fully dedicated to explore innovation and development of path-breaking applications for mobile customers across the country. Customers in cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai were looking towards mobile commerce and the Future Factory here would take up development of drive applications that use mobile phone as a payment instrument for ticketing, money transfer and other commerce transactions.

He said under rural programme the company would focus on developing applications to make mobile telephone more relevant to the segment.

Super Series to be live on mobiles

More than 30 million cell phone users in the country can watch the Johnnie Walker Super series cricket live when the tournament starts on October 5

New Delhi, Oct 4.(PTI): More than 30 million cell phone users in the country can watch the Johnnie Walker Super series cricket live when the tournament starts on October 5.

Reliance, BSNL, IDEA, Aircel, Tata Indicom, BPL, Spice, MTNL subscribers can watch the cricket series on their GPRS-enabled cell phones thanks to IMImobiles.

ICC has given the rights to three service providers in India — Airtel, Hutch and IMImobile.

Airtel records over 75,000 customers in NE

eading mobile service provider Airtel has more than 75,000 customers today in Assam and North east, a company spokesman said.

Guwahati: Leading mobile service provider Airtel has more than 75,000 customers today in Assam and North east, a company spokesman said.

Airtel now connects all the important towns in Assam on its state-of-art Ero network and is being managed by Ericsson.

The towns covered included Tezpur, Nagaon, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Duliajan, Sivsagar, Barpeta town, Barpeta Road, Nalbari, Rangiya and Bongaigaon.

Airtel is also spreading its network to connect highways and key rail routes as well as the smaller towns along the highways, the spokesman said.

"We are committed to provide our customers unparalleled service experience on a congestion free network," the spokesman said in a release here today

Airtel sets up 1000th cell site

Cellular service provider, Airtel on Friday installed 1000th cell site in Maharashtra and Goa circle at Katol, 40 km from Nagpur, and claimed to have become first private player to do so

Cellular service provider, Airtel on Friday installed 1000th cell site in Maharashtra and Goa circle at Katol, 40 km from Nagpur, and claimed to have become first private player to do so.

"The total number of base stations will touch 1500 by March next year and Airtel will enter over 300 new towns across Maharashtra and Goa thus spanning the coverage to a total 550 towns and 33 districts," Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Televentures, Christopher Tobit told reporters.

Airtel will offer superior quality network in key tourist and pilgrimage destinations including Shirdi, Trimbakshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Shanishingnaapur, Nanded, Pandharpur, Lonavala and Khandala with an investment to the tune of Rs 250 crore for network expansion, capacity enhancement and other infrastructure, he said.

The company will also commission its third mobile switch centre (MSC) in second capital by end of March 2006, he said, adding during the current fiscal, Airtel will be covering additional highways like Bhusawal-Shegaon, Dhule-Nashik and Mumbai-Goa besides rail and road network on Mumbai-Goa and Vasai-Ahmedabad by next March.

Tobit said they will be launching 62 additional new towns and three new districts of Washim, Gadchiroli and Hingoli by March end.

It is also introducing network on wheels (NOW) and would be deploying five such NOWs in Maharashtra and Goa, he added.

Source:PTI

Hutch unveils voice response in Kannada

Hutch, one of the leading cellular service providers, on Tuesday announced the launch of content on the voice response platform in three more languages namely Kannada, Telugu and Tamil in addition to the already available English and Hindi languages

Samuel Selvakumar, director (operations), Hutch, told reporters here that this innovative voice enabled service will enable customers to access a range of offerings in the language of their choice and will be in tune with the Hutch philosophy of facilitating communication in a manner that is convenient.

Cellular launch services in Andman and Nicobar by March 06 says Hutch

Hutch would launch mobile phone services in the Andaman and Nicobar by March, 2006 while aiming to double the customer base in the Bengal circle in the next one year.

"We will be launching our cellular services in Andaman and Nicobar within the next few months, ie. By the end of the current financial year," Sridhar Rao, CEO, Hutchison Telecom East Limited, told reporters on Wednesday.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Chota Recharge-Puri Baat’ coupon, he said the company expected to emulate its success story in the Bengal circle in the islands.

Hutch would be the third operator after BSNL and Airtel to launch its cellular services in the islands.

Hutch rolls out Rs 10 recharge coupons

Hutchison Essar has launched a new recharge voucher that enables subscribers to top-up pre-paid connections with denominations as low as Rs 10

Hutchison Essar has launched a new recharge voucher that enables subscribers to top-up pre-paid connections with denominations as low as Rs 10.

“The new coupon will help make pre-paid usage even more affordable to both ‘Hutch’ and ‘Orange’ users, and offers more talktime at the same cost, therefore more value for money,” said Naveen Chopra, corporate vice-present, group marketing of Hutchison Essar at a press conference.

Earlier, the voucher could be used only as an ‘add-on card’. This meant that the card can be used to make calls when the recharged value of a coupon expires, but the validity period continues.

The customer can then recharge using a Chota Recharge again after buying a Rs 199 card within the 30-day validity period. Even though, the customer gets additional talktime for the amount recharged, it does not extend his validity period.

A user can recharge any number of times within the validity period without paying any extra fee. This will bring in a significant change in the pre-paid industry and going mobile will become more affordable, he said.

With this launch, Chota Recharge becomes the lowest recharge voucher available in the country.

Prior to this launch, the add-on recharge card available with the Rs 199 voucher was of Rs 55 and Rs 60. These cards also had access fees. Earlier, Airtel had also rolled out recharge vouchers in low denominations of Rs 60 and Rs 120.

Source:business-standard

Bharti Launches Mobile Wallet

Bharti Tele-Ventures has tied-up with ICICI Bank and VISA, to launch the country’s first “mobile wallet”. The new service called “mChq” will enable Airtel subscribers and ICICI Bank Visa cardholders to pay for their purchases through their mobile phones

Bharti Tele-Ventures has tied-up with ICICI Bank and VISA, to launch the country’s first "mobile wallet". The new service called "mChq" will enable Airtel subscribers and ICICI Bank Visa cardholders to pay for their purchases through their mobile phones.

With "mChq", Airtel subscribers in Mumbai and Delhi can purchase goods for as low as Rs 50. Once the product is bought, the retailer will send an SMS mentioning the amount to the customer. The customer will enter his/her personalized PIN number and reply via SMS , acknowledging the amount to be paid. The transaction is sealed with both parties getting a confirmatory SMS.

Vodafone selects the Nokia 6680 smartphone in its Japanese lineup

Espoo, Finland – Continuing to build the success of its highly popular 3G product, Nokia today announced that the Nokia 6680 device will be available through Vodafone K.K. in Japan. The stylish Nokia 6680 3G WCDMA terminal will be marketed in Vodafone’s lineup under the name “Vodafone 702NK II (Nokia 6680)”. The device is expected to be commercially available in Japan starting from late October.

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE September 21, 2005

Vodafone selects the Nokia 6680 smartphone in its Japanese lineup

Espoo, Finland – Continuing to build the success of its highly popular 3G product, Nokia today announced that the Nokia 6680 device will be available through Vodafone K.K. in Japan. The stylish Nokia 6680 3G WCDMA terminal will be marketed in Vodafone’s lineup under the name "Vodafone 702NK II (Nokia 6680)". The device is expected to be commercially available in Japan starting from late October.

The Nokia 6680 (Vodafone 702NK II), specially customized for Vodafone K.K., delivers highly sophisticated 3G functionality in an attractively styled, compact form. One of the few products in the WCDMA market with truly international roaming capability, the Nokia 6680 (Vodafone 702NK II) allows consumers to enjoy various 3G services provided by Vodafone K.K., including the Vodafone live!, international roaming video calls and video streaming services in or outside of Japan. Additionally, the owners of the device will get access to the famous Vodafone live! email system.

The full-fledged smartphone feature set of the Nokia 6680 (Vodafone 702NK II) is enriched by robust data communication functions including WCDMA and Bluetooth wireless technology, which makes it fast and convenient to browse the Internet, send and receive emails with attachments, and link with other electronic devices such as PCs. These features make the Nokia 6680 (Vodafone 702NK II) a first-class tool for conducting business, whether in the office or out and about.

"With its elegant design, robust feature set and sophisticated functionality, the Nokia 6680 has become the best-selling WCDMA device globally," said Heikki Tenhunen, President of Nokia Japan. "We are very pleased to expand its availability to new customer groups, and regard this development as an important milestone in entering the Japanese mass market."

The Nokia 6680 is the third Nokia 3G product available in the Vodafone K.K. lineup. The Nokia 6630 (Vodafone 702NK) was added to the Vodafone K.K. portfolio in December 2004, and the Nokia 6650 (V-NM701) became available in August 2003.

Detailed information about Nokia 6680 (Vodafone 702NK II) and its services can be found from Vodafone’s website www.vodafone.jp. For more information about the global version of the product, please visit www.nokia.com/6680.

About Nokia

Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com

Data cards enhance mobile Net access

As India Inc rushes towards increasing productivity per employee, IT and communication products enabling wireless connectivity are rapidly flooding the marketplace. Data cards — which deliver broadband wireless capability to laptops and other computing devices — currently offered by telecom service operators like Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices and Airtel, among others, are empowering the mobile professional to access the internet anytime, anywhere.

source:http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=102214

Hutch, Essar form new entity

Hutchison Whampoa, the owners of the Hutch brand, and the Ruia group promoted Essar Telecom have decided to consolidate their operations into a new entity christened as Hutchison Essar Ltd.

Hutchison Whampoa, the owners of the Hutch brand, and the Ruia group promoted Essar Telecom have decided to consolidate their operations into a new entity christened as Hutchison Essar Ltd. Essar Telecom will continue to have a 30 per cent stake in the merged entity. The name change comes after Essar Telecom picked up a 64 per cent stake in BPL Mobile a month ago.

source:Times of India, India

Airtel installs third switch in Mumbai

he new switch has the capacity to handle additional six lakh customers and will be able to complete additional one million calls during peak hours, the company has said.

In its bid to offer congestion-free network, Airtel has installed its third switch in Mumbai to absorb the growing voice and data traffic. The new switch has the capacity to handle additional six lakh customers and will be able to complete additional one million calls during peak hours, the company has said. Airtel is also planning to increase the number of cell sites in Mumbai from 800 to more than 1,000 by the end of the year.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/15291707.htm

Vodafone Trials 3G Service In Sydney

Vodafone has recently started external 3G trials in Sydney, Australia. They are giving 180 customers the ability to use and test drive the 3G network for three weeks. The testers will be given 3G enabled phones, and data cards for usage with their notebooks, and etc. In the last week, they�re gonna have to report to Vodafone stores to talk about their experiences, usage problems

Vodafone has recently started external 3G trials in Sydney, Australia. They are giving 180 customers the ability to use and test drive the 3G network for three weeks. The testers will be given 3G enabled phones, and data cards for usage with their notebooks, and etc. In the last week, they’re gonna have to report to Vodafone stores to talk about their experiences, usage problems, etc…

During this task, they’ll be assigned tasks such as downloading MP3 tracks, videos, and 3D games – why? To see how well the 3G network operates and stands up. These results in the stores are going to be used to properly train Vodafone staff for the full network launch later on.

Vodafone has assigned sets of tasks for users to complete during the trial. Mobile handset users will be asked to download specific Vodafone live! content, such as the latest music tracks, sports action and 3D games. Business customers will use the VMC with 3G data cards to test mobile email with attachments, internet access and wireless working using various enterprise applications.

“We want to evaluate the customer experience across all areas of content and delivery so we’ve deliberately set objectives for users, but beyond that it’s up to them to decide how and what they want to explore,” said John Casey, Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone Australia. “We’ll use feedback from the trial to give future 3G customers an unbeatable mobile experience.”

“At Vodafone, an unbeatable experience means much more than how the technology performs; it’s about how successfully we meet and exceed customer expectations on service and support and how effectively our products and content fires imagination, “ added Casey.

The external trial follows a three-month internal test programme, which evaluated the functionality of the Vodafone 3G network, handset and data card provisioning and support systems. The internal trial involved more than 100 Vodafone employees in Sydney.

“Our Australian customers will benefit from everything that Vodafone has learned in rolling out new 3G networks in 14 other countries around the world,” said Casey.

source:Cellular-News