Airtel Offers Free Net Access Under Airtel Zero

Indian telecommunications service company, Bharti Airtel has launched a new plan called Airtel Zero. With this platform, now airtel users can access certain applications and services like chat apps, e-commerce apps, gaming portals and other Internet-based services without any data charges.

This is launching in both the Android and iOS platform and on the other side Airtel will be partnering with several e-commerce companies and start-ups to offer free access to their apps.

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Commenting on the event, Srini Gopalan, Director, Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel, said, "We are excited to launch ‘Airtel Zero', which is an open and non-discriminatory marketing platform for all developers in India - irrespective of the size of their business."

He added, "We believe that this platform is consistent with India's Digital Inclusion agenda and also contributes to the government's ‘Make in India' vision by providing a platform to millions of small businesses to reach out to the end consumer. Following an extremely successful pilot phase, we are seeing a lot of interest from businesses across the board, including several small startup firms, and expect a large number of applications to sign on."

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In an interview with The Business Line, Srini Gopalan said "This is an open platform with non-discriminatory pricing, and we believe it will be a win-win for customers and e-commerce players".

According to the report by MediaNama, Flipkart has signed up with Airtel for the Zero platform and is paying the telecom operator Rs 1000/gb data transfer as part of the deal.

Moreover, Airtel remained tight lipped and didn't reveal any information about the name of the apps that are already part of the platform.