Date:07/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/07/stories/2004120701320500.htm

Back Airtel bets on ringback service to woo Gen X

Our Bureau

`Youngsters want to have fun, they love music and they love innovation and that is what this service is all about.'

Pune , Dec. 6

LET there be some music in our lives. This seems to be the latest mantra among youngsters, according to the data that Airtel has.

The service provider, which launched its `ringback' tone service that allows subscribers to customise tunes or messages for any or all of its callers to hear, says that 26,000 subscribers have signed up for this service within a month of its launch.

With some innovative packaging and a range of offers to choose from, the company has what it terms a `sure-fire' winner on its hands.

"Youngsters want to have fun, they love music and they love innovation and that is what this service is all about," says Mr Christopher Tobit, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Cellular Ltd, Maharashtra and Goa circle.

So, be it a teenager who wants to send across a message to the love of his life with a `saiiyyan dil mein aana re' numberor an unwelcome admirer being told off by a pretty lass with the latest `chal hatt' number, youngsters are using the service and having fun, says Mr Tobit.

He says that the ringback service gives people a more interesting alternative to the boring `trinng... tring' that callers usually have to hear.

Tones are available in Kannada, Telugu, English, Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil now.

The company plans to launch the service in Marathi in the next fortnight.

Meanwhile, the company recently launched Assal Marathi - a Marathi interactive voice portal on mobile that gives subscribers access to comprehensive content from movies, songs, news and astrology.

The service will be available to its 5.6-lakh subscribers in the Maharashtra and Goa circles.

The company's English language portal has 10,000 minutes of usage every day and it hopes to achieve the same level in the Marathi portal in a couple of months.

Says Mr Tobit, "25 per cent of the average minutes used per subscriber comes from valued-added services like dedicating songs and downloads," adding that SMS continues to contribute to the bulk of the value-added service revenues that the company makes.

The company also simultaneously launched its missed call alert services that alerts the subscriber of the missed calls via SMS and also informs the caller of the availability of the person he/she had called, as soon as the line is free.

The rollout plans for the next year, Mr Tobit said, are in the final stages.

About Rs 100 crore-Rs 150 crore will be invested next year for adding 200 base stations to include 50-60 towns to the existing coverage of 198 towns.