All India Radio's free news SMS service launched after successful pilot

Making the most out of its expansive network, All India Radio has now launched a free SMS service that will provide news updates to its massive subscriber base. The service was launched by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Monday, September 9th, following a successful 6 month pilot study. Tewari went on to add that it received overwhelming response.

With a current subscription base of 2 lakh people, the service hopes to reach 5 lakh subscribers by the end of September. "We want to ensure events taking place in northeast and others parts, get mainstreamed."

You can subscribe by sending an SMS ‘AIRNEWS XXXX' (your name) to 08082080820. Even making a missed call to the number will allow you to subscribe to the service.

The service happens to be an itiative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which is a branch of the Government of India. It is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to information, broadcasting, the press and films in India.

Who will foot the bill for this service? Well, AIR intends to recover the cost of sending messages by billing ministries and departments who want to send their utility messages along with the news updates. "The resource generated through such public utility schemes will enable the News Services Division of AIR to bear the cost incurred towards generating such SMSes," said an official statement.