Date:05/11/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/11/05/stories/2004110500981900.htm

Back BPL Mobile offers special prepaid plan for students in Mumbai

Our Bureau

Mumbai , Nov. 4

BPL Mobile has introduced an aggressively priced prepaid package (the Mots Zone card) targeted at college students that offers a rate of 2 paise per minute for calls to any phone within the city made from within the 15 CampusZones that the company has marked out in Mumbai.

Local SMS is for 50 paise per message and free SMS is allowed to any one local number. A facility allows the mobile number to function as a personal e-mail ID to send and receive e-mails through SMS.

A subscriber chooses his or her CampusZone that includes the entire college campus as well as certain favourite hangouts around it. A network innovation makes this zoning possible, said a news release from BPL Mobile.

A CampusZone is not restricted to one college but to all colleges falling within a chosen CampusZone.

This product is targeted primarily at the 15 to 24 age group, said the release.

"Today 20 per cent of the mobile base in the city falls in the 15-24 age group and this segment is growing rapidly," said Mr Krishna Angara, Executive Vice-president, Business Operations, BPL Mobile. Stating that the new product offers great value to their growing mobile usage, he said: "Our focus in the next six months is to innovate with technology and network to differentiate through services to build affinity in these emerging segments."

"At BPL mobile we are constantly investing in the latest technology to offer differentiated products and services across all our markets," said Mr Sandip Basu President and CEO, BPL mobile. "This will help increasing the brand edge and maintain our leadership position in the pre-paid category."