Airtel to Offer Free Limited Time Internet To Strengthen Data User-Base in India

By Vivek

| Published: Friday, November 7, 2014, 11:11 [IST]

In a bid to enhance the Internet user-base in India, one of the largest mobile service provider in India - Bharti Airtel has launched a mission to offer free online tutorial classes through its 'one-touch Internet' plan and attempt to persuade about 160 million subscribers to become active mobile Internet users by breaking down hurdles related to cost or technical access.

The telecom industry via the noble plan is targeting the housewives and the elderly for lessons on the basics of Internet usage. This is surely going to be a fruitful way to make enrich the telecom operators role in India.

Airtel to Offer Free Limited Time Internet To Increase Data User-Base

"We know that a large number of our customers with Internet-enabled mobile phones do not use the Internet. This is because many of them don't know how to use the Internet and are unaware of the cost," said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer - India and South Asia at Bharti Airtel.

If you are interested in taking the classes, you would be glad to know that it is free. A 10-day Internet access will be provided by Airtel. An existing prepaid user will simply need to call the customer care and click on a link that appears on the phone. On clicking the link, the user will be able to go through a module that explains how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter on a mobile device and make travel bookings, apart from Internet browsing.

Once the user likes a service and wants more, the company will offer you dirt-free solutions - for example, pay Re 1 for using Facebook or Twitter for a day. This will be done as part of a new initiative - One Touch Internet.

The initiative is aimed at "a dramatic simplification" of how to use the Internet, Vittal said.

Airtel needs to move more users to data services as 80% of its revenue still comes from voice services, which are offered at among the lowest rates in the world. Just over 40 million of its 211 million subscribers in the country use data, highlighting the potential for growth.

Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!