The Hindu : Business : Airtel launches fixed wireless home phone service

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 07, 2006

Business

Business

Airtel launches fixed wireless home phone service

Staff Reporter

Local call rate will be charged at 40 paise a minute

Free 150-minute calls every month The entry-level price of phones is Rs. 1,500 for Voice SMS cordless

— Photo: S. Subramanium

WITHIN ARM'S REACH: Joint President, Mobility, Bharati Airtel, Sanjay Kapoor (left), along with Director, Marketing and Communications, Hemant Sachdev, launching the new innovative wireless home phone service in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Limited (BAL) on Thursday launched "Airtel Mega'' fixed wireless phone (FWP) services, offering cheap local and STD call rates. The innovative home phone service that operates on the GSM network comes with the advantages of instant availability, feature-rich instruments and mobility within the premises.

Airtel's FWP service user will be charged 40 paise a minute (Rs. 1.20 for three minutes) for all local and intra-circle mobile calls, while for STD calls the charges will be Rs. 2.40 a minute. All local calls to any landline will be charged 20 paise a minute.

Airtel Mega service will be available in post-paid and pre-paid tariff plans. Initially, it will be launched in 90 cities and towns, and by the end of the current fiscal, it will be rolled in 4,000 cities across the country. The company is hoping to attract ten lakh subscribers within the next 12 months.

According to BAL Joint President (Mobility) Sanjay Kapoor: "The fixed line market in India is now underserved (especially in smaller towns and villages) largely on account of inadequate infrastructure. Through Airtel Mega, we intend to make available home phones to all customers.''

"This offer is clearly data based and gives a real value proposition of cheaper calls to landlines. The launch will also play a crucial role in augmenting our telecom presence across all segments of the market,'' the company's director (marketing and communication), Hemant Sachdev, said. Airtel Mega would also offer a unique bouquet of value-added services, including Hello Tunes, SMS, caller ID and all other services that Airtel had pioneered in the last few years, Mr. Sachdev said.

Airtel will make available the service through retail outlets as well through end-to-end service delivery — from booking to installation to after-sales — at the subscriber's doorstep.

Other features of the Airtel Mega are free 150-minute (50 pulses) calls every month to one Airtel mobile/landline, valid for one year from the date of installation, and free 50 local and national SMS.

The entry-level price of the phones is Rs. 1,500 for the Voice SMS cordless and Rs. 1,800 for the voice data model.

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