MNP POLL ANALAYSIS

So atlast Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is going to be implemented in India. It has been delaying for 2 years from June 2009.

With MNP in hand, subscribers become more powerful in the multi-SIM environment of Indian telecom.

Though ICRA reports MNP can affect mobile operators in a short term basis, and other surveys (including Telecomtalk ’s Polls – Which Operator Will You Leave Once MNP Come Into Place? & Which Operator Will You Board Once MNP Come Into Place? ) shows almost similar trends i.e. in and out flow of the subscribers for the operators are more or less similar, so profit/loss due to MNP will be minimal.

But as 3G is coming, and data will be the main momentum of telecom sector in coming days with voice tariff war is stabilized, MNP can be lethal for some operators. If MNP is considered as cricket ball, with 2G means medium pacer is bowling and with 3G means its fast bowler! So non-3G players in circle-to-circle will have churns in coming days with MNP hits in.

As we conducted polls on MNP, we find out the following picture of post MNP telecom picture:

*The data used in the graph is per hundred (%).

**The poll result is based upon 986 votes  ‘Which Operator Will You Board Once MNP Come Into Place?’ and 880 votes on ‘Which Operator Will You Leave Once MNP Come Into Place?’ as of (12:19am Jan 20-2011).

The poll result says a maximum of 27% voters like to leave Airtel and at the same time maximum 21% of users said they will move to  Tata Docomo from their current operator.

This poll result can’t be taken as an accurate picture, as it is based upon only the users who voted on Telecomtalk’s MNP polls.

We can say most voters of these polls are from urban areas who have access to internet. As more people will be aware of MNP, MNP will be more helpful for massess.source

More Options with MNP , but will services improve?

Having resisted it for as long as they could, mobile service providers have now geared up to meet the reality of number portability, which will be introduced nationwide on Thursday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will himself flag off the service, which allows mobile users to change their operator while retaining their original phone number. As a result, the telecom companies have started taking steps to retain their old customers or wean away new ones from their competitors.
Clearly the increased competition is good news for customers, even though lack of infrastructure limits the telecom companies' options.
A Mumbai-based client of Reliance Communications, dissatisfied with his BlackBerry services, on Tuesday sought to switch to Vodafone. He was immediately contacted and told that while R-Infra couldn't help on the services front, the company would give him a discount on his bill.
"Reliance wants to keep me back, but I need better service," the customer said. Unfortunately he is still likely to be disappointed, even if he changes his provider.
A report says that the senior vice-president of marketing at Idea Cellular will spend the next few days in Mumbai's suburbs visiting hundreds of mobile recharge outlets, trying to get them to convince subscribers of other companies to 'get Idea' now that number portability is imminent. source

Verification woes of mobile users

The ordeal of people waiting in long queues in front of mobile service providers' outlets to submit documents for avoiding discontinuation of connection worsened on Wednesday.

People who filled up forms using blue ink instead of black were refused verification by the authorities concerned. "The documents of mine and a few of my friends were rejected because we filled up the forms in blue ink. It's terrible after waiting for more than two hours since morning. Now, we need to do it once again," said S Basumatary, a local standing outside a mobile outlet in the city.

His friends complained that mobile service providers didn't inform the people about the procedure properly. "We only got an SMS about re-submitting our documents. But the ink' factor was nowhere mentioned," added one of his mates.

Service providers in NE circle said they could not provide all the information to customers owing to the pressure of completing the mammoth task within the deadline on January 19.

"The remote and the rural areas suffered more due to the time constraint. Many could not even get any document supporting their address also," said a source.

source

TRAI to start consultation process on 4-G

Even as the operators are yet to start offering 3-G mobile services the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will make it public its consultation paper on 4G spectrum to facilitate its introduction by 2012.

The fourth generation or 4G technology offers download at faster speed known as ultra-broadband and high definition video on demand among other such services.

“I expect 4G to come in India next year. TRAI will bring out a consultation paper on 4G in the middle of this year,” TRAI Chairman, J S Sarma told reporters on sidelines of a function organised by Assocham-Deloitte to release a study on Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS).

Sarma also announced that MVAS consultation paper will be put up for comments or suggestions within 15 days to the Government on the way forward in developing the future roadmap for MVAS in India and shall be finalized soon. He also said all the issues related to MVAS to encourage competition and motivate application developers in vernacular languages.

Telecom Regulator further added that the ban on unsolicited call to be implemented from February 1, 2011 and also appealed the all tele market operators to quickly register themselves.

Dilip Modi, President, ASSOCHAM called for a policy framework to be created to ensure that the benefits of utility MVAS could be accrued to every citizen in full measure. He said, “It is imperative that the government / regulatory bodies lay down a vision and set guideline to provide the industry with direction as MVAS can be a serious vehicle to hasten the process of inclusive growth and can aid in identifying priority areas for fund allocation specifically in the areas of governance, health and education.

“Realizing the fact that mobiles today have begun to replace roads in our country it becomes all the more necessary to strengthen and leverage the digital infrastructure in our country. There is immense scope to develop Utility MVAS services in the country that will bring M-education, M-health, M-banking, M-governance, M-agriculture and other mobile services through digital highway to all sections of our population thus helping the economy to grow as whole,” he added.

The study also highlighted, the mobile penetration expected to go up to nearly 100 per cent by 2015 and Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) to generate `48,000 crore worth of revenue, MVAS is clearly slated to drive the vehicle for inclusive growth in India.source

How Airtel Defines Unlimited

This is priceless: Bharti Airtel, in its submission last year, to the Indian Telecom regulator TRAI on issues relating to misleading advertisements (specifically, including the unfair “Fair Usage Policy“), has inferred that the meaning of ‘Unlimited’ needs to be looked at from the perspective of the conditions imposed, and “the limits set out by most service providers is implicitly unlimited since the capping on usage is done at a very high level.”
Erm… someone tell Airtel that “Unlimited” refers to an absolute, and there is no implicit definition of the word, unless they want to write their own dictionary. It’s quite simple – if you’re putting caps on your broadband plans, then don’t advertise them as unlimited.
In our opinion, this is just the beginning: we’ll see more of this with 3G mobile broadband plans, and if Airtel Broadband intends to not remain a dumb pipe, then net neutrality (via preferential bandwidth allocation, lower latency) will be an issue for Airtel broadband VAS.
Extract from Airtel’s submission (pdf, page 12):
11. Do you agree that the instances of ‘misleading’ tariff advertisements listed in this paper adequately capture the actual scenario in the market? If not, provide specific details.
We disagree with some of the instances of tariff advertisement classified as misleading in the Consultation paper for the following reasons:
a) While we agree that a strict definition of the word “Unlimited” would mean ‘without any limits’, we beg to differ with the use of the word “Unlimited” in tariff advertisements being termed as misleading. The limits set out by most service providers is implicitly unlimited since the capping on usage is done at a very high level.
b) It is our belief that if transparency in communication is maintained by stating upfront the usage limits (which are genuinely very high), we feel the customer is adequately informed to make a reasoned choice and hence this would not amount to misleading the consumer in any manner.
c) The word “Unlimited” has to also be seen from the perspective of the conditions imposed. For example, in the Fair Usage Policy on Internet Broadband, we have defined fair usage levels for unlimited data transfer plans and needless to mention, the usage levels set are very generous and such that most customers will not be affected by the Fair Usage Policy. This also has no impact on the data transfer limits which remain unlimited. To address TRAI concern on the “Common man”, the criteria for ‘Fair Use Policy’ is based on the maximum use by common man i.e. number of calls, minutes consumed, data volume/ speed etc.
d) The Authority we believe would appreciate that, the purpose behind having the Fair Usage Policy in place is that the service providers want heavy usage customers to use their service extensively, but at the same time are cautious to avoid any kind of abuse by a select few customers that would result in poor customer experience for the larger base of customers using the service. Thus the intent of Airtel’s Fair Usage Policy is only to provide the optimum internet experience to all customers.source

MNP Helplines of all Telecom Operators – Mobile Number Portability

Mobile Number Portability is going to be launched in all Indian states from tomorrow  telecom operators are trying to woo as many customers to make them move to their services by promising various goodies or other types of benefits in terms of services, better coverage, free talk-time, etc.
Many telecom operators has already rolled a dedicated MNP helpline to help customers to opt-in to their services using Mobile Number Portability.

Here is the list of MNP helpline numbers of various Indian telecos that would help you for easy migration from one operator to another.

• IDEA MNP Helpline: 1800-270-0000 (Toll-free)
• Vodafone MNP Helpline: 1800-1234567 (Toll-free)
• TATA Docomo MNP Helpline: 1800-266-0000 (Toll-free) Welcome message on this number is for 3G services, but Docomo claims it to be MNP helpline.
• Aircel MNP Helpline: 98020 98020

We will keep this section updated as and when there’s any new helpline numbers from other operators. Do let us know if you know of any other dedicated MNP helpline number via comments below.

Strategic Tax Exemptions Will Boost High Technology Sector: IAMAI

New Delhi: Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is of the view that strategic and well-thought tax exemptions will boost high technology sectors like digital and mobile value added services. IAMAI has made a near-impossible demand for tax exemption under Section 10(A) of the Income Tax Act for Internet and mobile service providers, mobile content providers, mobile value added services (VAS) platform providers and transaction providers on Internet and mobile platforms.

A similar tax exemption to the software and telecom sector about ten years back had given them the requisite incentive to grow to the current status. IAMAI believes that government intervention in the form of such fiscal benefits will help propel the digital industry to grow. It feels that unless incentives are given to the digital content providers and VAS industry, broadband penetration would not take off the way it has been envisioned by the Government of India.

“The income tax exemption granted software and telecom sectors have ensured that they have the necessary government support to scale up and achieve global size. A similar measure is needed for the digital content providers to ensure that e-penetration takes off in India and we have large successful companies that will carry forward the India brand,” said Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI.

Among other suggestions, IAMAI also sought a five-year moratorium on service tax on online services and online advertising industry under Section 65 of the Income Tax Act. It believes that a moratorium will allow this nascent industry to grow and stabilize. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) depend on the digital medium to access domestic and international market. IAMAI believes that the additional burden of service tax will adversely impact the growth of this sector.

“Five year service tax moratorium as opposed to the stimulus package already put in place by the Government will go a long way in aiding the SME sector to grow and access new markets. It may be noted that SMEs comprises about 40-50 %of the industrial output and any fiscal incentive will help them tap newer markets and use the digital medium better,” opined Dr Ray.

IAMAI made these recommendations in its pre-budget memorandum that was put forth before various ministries, finance, commerce and communications and Information technology.source

How to avail MNP

Here are the steps to port your mobile number to another service provider.
1. First, you need to generate UPC (Unique Porting Code).
This can be done by sending an SMS to 1900.
The SMS should be in this format: PORT Eg: PORT <99XXXXXXXX>.
This should be sent to 1900
Operator SMS charge will be applicable.

PM to flag off nationwide roll-out of MNP on Jan 20

2. In reply, you will receive a UPC (Unique Porting Code) as SMS from 1901.
The UPC will be an 8 digit alpha-numeric code. You will also receive the date till when the UPC will remain valid in the MM/DD/YYYY format.
3. Send the UPC to the service number of the mobile operator you wish to switch to, through an SMS, if such a number is available.
You can confirm by visiting the operator's website. Else, visit the nearest outlet/showroom of the operator you want to migrate to with your UPC in hand.
4. Some service providers charge a nominal fee for the process, while others like BSNL have advertised free porting.
5. You will also have to fill and submit the prescribed Mobile Number Portability form to the new operator. They could also ask you to submit documents (like photo ID and address proof). Post-paid subscribers will be asked to submit a copy of their latest bill too.
6. Your request could be denied if any of these factors apply:

• You have an unpaid bill on your existing postpaid mobile number.
• Pending request for change of ownership of the concerned Mobile Number
• The mobile number is under contractual obligation
• 90 Days has not lapsed since number activation
• 90 Days has not lapsed since last Porting Request from the same Mobile Number
• You have applied for inter-circle porting
• There is a pending legal case against your mobile number

7. The number portability has to be completed within 7 working days as per process mandated by DoT. You will also receive an SMS mentioning the time and date for porting.
8. Once the switch is complete, you will receive another SMS from the new operator.
Your mobile phone may go 'dead' for 120 minutes, the time when the porting takes place. At the end of it, your migration to your new operator should be complete.
9. One thing you must keep in mind - You can change your operator only once in every 90 days. So, use the service with care.source

Nuance Launches Self-Service Mobile Developer Program

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that it is providing access to the Dragon Mobile SDK for iOS and Android via a new self-service website as part of the Nuance Mobile Developer Program. Now mobile developers are able to quickly and easily leverage the powerful dictation and voice search capabilities at the core of the successful Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search apps, as well as Nuance’s trusted Vocalizer text-to-speech (TTS).

“The Dragon Mobile SDK has allowed us to quickly and easily voice-enable our Dictionary.com app for both iPhone and Android, giving our consumers an amazing voice search experience across two unique platforms”

The Dragon Mobile SDK is now available through the Nuance Mobile Developer Program for Apple iOS 4.0 (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch) and for many devices running Android 2.1 and higher. The SDK currently supports US and UK English, European Spanish, European French, German, Italian and Japanese for dictation and search, with additional languages to be added through the end of the year. TTS capabilities exist for more than 35 languages.
The Nuance Mobile Developer Program gives developers instant access to easy-to-integrate prepackaged wrappers and widgets for rapid inclusion of voice recognition into their applications, all through a self-service website. Developers also have access to an on-line forum for additional support, a variety of code samples and full documentation.
“The mobile application explosion is in flight with Apple nearing 10 billion downloads and Android apps expanding rapidly,” said Michael Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. “We’ve created an amazingly simple way for developers to innovate privately and securely on the two fastest growing platforms in the world.”
Many developers have already experienced the power of the Dragon Mobile SDK for their apps, including Siri, Price Check by Amazon, Ask for iPhone, aisle411, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and SpeechTrans.
Nuance Mobile Developer Quotes

• “Integrating Nuance’s intuitive voice recognition brought a new level of user interaction to our Ask for iPhone question and answer service. Finding information is incredibly easy when you can simply speak a question versus having to type it in,” said Tony Gentile, senior vice president, products, Ask.com US.
• “Voice-enabling our app was simple with the Dragon Mobile SDK, letting people easily look up words that they've heard but don't know how to spell. And for many of our users, speaking directly to the dictionary is an intuitive and enjoyable experience," said Miles Kronby, chief product officer of digital, Merriam-Webster.
• “The Dragon Mobile SDK has allowed us to quickly and easily voice-enable our Dictionary.com app for both iPhone and Android, giving our consumers an amazing voice search experience across two unique platforms,” said Lisa Cross-Sullivan, GM Mobile, Dictionary.com

Nuance Mobile Developer Program Pricing
Developers can download the Dragon Mobile SDK and have access to the cloud-based speech services for 90 days absolutely free. And once ready for market distribution, developers have tiered pricing options to accommodate their unique needs and those of their applications. Nuance also offers a range of developer customization programs including specialized language models and application optimization. To learn more about the Dragon Mobile SDK and supported devices, please visit: http://dragonmobile.nuancemobiledeveloper.com.
Dragon has long been a leading speech recognition application on the desktop, used by millions of people around the world. Nuance has launched an array of Dragon applications across a variety of mobile platforms including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, and more. To learn more, visit www.dragonmobileapps.com.
About Nuance Mobile
Nuance Mobile builds innovative, intelligent and intuitive touch and speech interfaces to simplify and enhance the way people interact with mobile devices, applications, and services. Nuance Mobile solutions make mobile devices and in-car systems easier to use, automate customer self-service, and optimize the access and discovery of even the most advanced mobile applications and content – regardless of technical know-how, location, environment, or physical and literacy capabilities.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: nuance.com.
Nuance and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
The statements in this press release relating to future plans, events or services, are forward-looking statements which are subject to specific risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward looking statements, including fluctuations in demand for the Nuance products, and the continued development of Nuance products. The reader is warned not to rely on these forward-looking statements without reservation, since these are simply reflections of the current situation. Nuance disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document. source

Mobile Number Portability: Idea, Vodafone lead in marketing rush

 Anupama Ahluwalia has a hectic week ahead. The senior vice-president of marketing at Idea Cellular will spend the next few days in Mumbai suburbs, visiting hundreds of mobile recharge outlets trying to convince subscribers of other telcos to 'get Idea' when number portability rolls out nationally on January 20.


Idea Cellular and Vodafone India are among a select group of telcos making frantic marketing moves to make the best of mobile number portability, or MNP, which allows mobile users to switch between service providers without changing their number.


Most operators, including market leader Airtel and Reliance Communications, however, have refrained from advertising over number portability as they don't expect any great impact from the new service.


Idea Cellular, which started the 'No idea? Get Idea' campaign to woo subscribers of rival telcos with MNP months ago, has opened a toll-free line to assist customers wanting to switch to Idea and launched a fresh television commercial on Tuesday. The campaign will run for some time.


"January 20th will be the start of MNP and not the end (of our marketing). All action is not on day one. We need to be ready for the process," says Ahluwalia.


India's second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone, too is upbeat about MNP, following a positive response in Haryana where number portability was introduced on November 25. The telco has brought back the famous Hutch pug for its 'Everybody's Welcome' campaign around MNP.


"We have received a good response from Haryana…the number of customers porting out of our network is a fraction of the number porting in," says Vodafone Essar strategy director Samaresh Parida.


But in Haryana, less that 1% customers changed their operator in almost two months. More than 1,40,000 out of 19 million subscribers in Haryana have switched their operators, according to telecom regulator TRAI.source

MNP and Spam Curtailing

Two interesting things are happening in the Telecom world.

Mobile Number Portability

Starting Jan 20, you'll be able to change your cellphone service provider without changing your number. Wow, you think. Everyone will move away from Airtel? But to whom? Like in Political Parties and developed market currencies, you have to choose the lesser evil. The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. The apple that's not yet completely rotten...you get the picture. On a personal note, I might give the newer players a shot, but after seeing what kind of pain is involved in the transition.

Reduced Mobile Spam

Yeah, we hate it. But telemarketers have loved it, and VAS companies thrived because of it. Now it's going to be a dead zone. Come Feb 1, you can choose to not get those annoying SMSes, and if you still do, everyone responsible gets on the firing line. Complaints cause serious monetary damage and threaten the business itself.
(Read: New TRAI Rules: Switch the SMS Spam OFF)
My thought: VAS companies are screwed. Even if they aren't implicated for rogue SMSes, the business will hurt. Watch as the IPOs roll out.
Mobile companies derive a lot of revenues - sometimes as much as the VAS companies - from SMS spam. But most of that seems to come from Tata Indicom, from my personal experience, and it seems Airtel's been going off that bandwagon for a while.
The MNP pieces will screw Airtel and Vodafone, but not this quarter - if the concept succeeds then it will benefit the newer players; Airtel has slightly better chances because of the Zain play in Africa. RCOM is CDMA mostly, and thus locks in users anyhow, but they have bigger problems than MNP, in the way of having their big chief's name as Anil Ambani. (Kidding. It just seems like that nowadays)source

Infostretch to Invest Rs. 850 Million on Mobile Innovation

InfoStretch Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government of Gujarat at Vibrant Gujarat Summit on Wednesday to scale up its operations and services in APAC Region. Santa Clara, CA, January 19, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Infostretch has signed an MoU with Government of Gujarat to scale up its operations and services in APAC Region.

Leader in mobile innovation, Infostretch Corporation on Wednesday announced that it will invest Rs. 850 Million to set up a mobile testing and QA center of excellence in Ahmadabad. The Silicon Valley based company expects to create more than 400 jobs over the next 3 years.

“Infostretch has signed an MoU with Government of Gujarat to scale up its operations and services in APAC Region,” said Manish Mathuria, CTO and co-founder at the 5th Global Summit of Vibrant Gujarat 2011.

He added that through this investment, Infostretch will be setting up QA and Mobile Centers of Excellence, developing an unprecedented mobile testing Infrastructure, developing talent and taking on CSR initiatives. “Beyond the hard numbers, the investment signifies InfoStretch's commitment to contribute to the development of Gujarat,” he said.

Since its foundation, Infostretch has experienced a tremendous growth; growing over 200% every year. The company is among the 20 fastest growing technology companies in Silicon Valley, California. Co-founders Rutesh Shah and Manish Mathuria saw the talent and opportunities Gujarat offered in IT, and set up its innovation centre in Ahmadabad. In a relatively short span of time, the company has added more than 150 talented engineers, and has been providing high value services to the leading organizations including Vodafone, Network 18 and Government of Gujarat. It has already tied up with EQDC for Mobile Testing and Certification activities. InfoStretch was recently adjudged as the Emerging Company of Gujarat at GESIA Awards and its innovative quality assurance platform, QMetry was named as Market Mover by research firm, Voke Inc.

"One of our goals is to take mobile revolution to every corner of India and develop an information highway that will connect people in rural parts," said Rutesh Shah, CEO of InfoStretch. “We will continue to focus on developing innovative solutions for the government sector,” he added.

InfoStretch plans to further expand its service offerings and expertise to serve the European and Australian Markets. InfoStretch’s innovative Mobile offerings include Mobile Confidence Testing, Distributed Mobile VAS Testing, Perfecto Mobile Handset Cloud & Automation, App Store Certification and Multi-Platform Mobile App Solutions. InfoStretch services have been successfully leveraged by leading Carriers, OEMs, Application Development and VAS Companies. InfoStretch’s QA offering include Performance Testing, ERP Testing, Embedded Software Testing, Cloud Testing, Selenium and QTP based Test Automation. InfoStretch has 300+ QA/technology experts that have served 100+ customers on 300+ projects.

About InfoStretch Corporation
InfoStretch is a leader in Mobile Application Development, Testing and Certification Services. InfoStretch also specializes in Enterprise application Testing, QA and Test Automation Services with specific emphasis on Enterprise 2.0 and Cloud Infrastructure based SaaS applications. InfoStretch delivers high-quality, reliable and cost effective services to clients throughout the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company specializes in delivering outsourced business solutions that command deep technology knowledge, process, proficiency and domain expertise.

About Vibrant Gujarat
Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the Government of Gujarat in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit serves as a perfect platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat. On the first day of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2011, Gujarat government signed 2,766 commercial MoUs with business houses and companies totalling an investment of about Rs 15 lakh crore (USD 333 Bn).source

Unlimited songs unlimited times for 1 full day in just Rs. 2.50 - UNINOR

Uninor today announced the launch of ‘Unlimited Music’ across Western Circle and all other circles simultaneously. Unlimited Music is a music platform that offers Uninor’s customers access to unlimited music from a collection of over 2,50,000 songs at only Rs. 2.50 a day. Customers also get access to services of Caller Tune, My Music Station and Ringtones under the same single platform and under one consolidate charge, making Unlimited Music a convenient and user friendly VAS pack.

To subscribe to this unlimited music service, a Uninor Customer simply needs to dial thetoll free number 52222 and request this service. Once subscribed to the service customers can browse through thousands of popular songs across various genres such as Bollywood, International Hits, Popular Music and even Regional Chartbusters as part of this offer. Uninor has partnered with Hungama, one of India’s biggest music content provider at a national level, in addition to tying up with close to 30 regional labels for creating a music repertoire that is robust and suits every customer’s need.

“With Unlimited Music, you can start playing songs in the morning and keep the music on for a full day. Simply said, in Rs. 2.50, your phone becomes your personal MP3 player, and one with a library of over 2,50,000 songs!!,” said Mr. Olav Sande EVP Western Circle

The Unlimited Music product will be promoted through a very extensive and aggressive advertising and promotions plan. This will include a brand new TVC that will premiere on national channels, innovations on music and movie channels and even tie-ups in cinema halls. The campaign will also include outdoor media (hoardings) as well as radio promotions.

“Consumers are sharing their entertainment and lifestyle choices over social networking forums. With the Uninor Unlimited Music, we have taken yet another significant step in providing a unique entertainment product to the end consumer. With this association with Uninor we hope to achieve newer heights in mobile VAS domain,” said Albert Almeida, COO, Hungama Mobile.

“Music on mobiles is big and has potential to become bigger still if done right. We have done away with the per song or per MB complicated and expensive approach. Our music is priced like a satchet but you use it as you use music – not per song, but for the full day,” added Mr. Olav Sande EVP Western Circle.

In addition to the advertising campaigns, Uninor has also planned a number of ground activities to promote ‘unlimited music’ for which Uninor will organize a Music concert in which a plethora of celebrity artist will be performing live. In Addition to this, Uninor will add to the excitement by placing 50 thousand wallets across Mumbai which will have special currency notes promoting Unlimited Music @ 2.5 per day, and that’s not all, Uninor will also give a local band the chance to perform live on the streets and play requests for the audience who can choose their favorite tunes from a list of songs, as well as organize a road show across Mumbai targeting colleges and market places with Music on the move where in a DJ will be playing the latest music while simultaneously engaging the crowd in interactive games and demossource