Om Shanti! Here comes 3-G offering

Does technology really empower, enable and ennoble users in a true sense? One out of every seven users of the 3-G technology, introduced by Tata DoCoMo in Gujarat, is now using it for ‘religious' reasons.

The number is expected to go up as more mobile telecom operators introduce 3-G nationally in the coming months.

Tata DoCoMo, which introduced 3-G in Rajkot on the Diwali day (November 5, 2010), has largely completed the rollout in the State with the spread of the service to 19 cities and towns, the latest additions being Ahmedabad and Vadodara. So far, the company has covered nearly 100 towns and cities across India under its 3-G rollout.

While one of the first 3-G users, in Rajkot, bought it to keep track of his stock market operations, another in Surat, a realty developer, is using it to watch the developments at the various sites and projects of his company.

About 15 per cent of 3-G customers now flock to the religious services being offered by the company. “On Maha-Shivaratri, March 2, a large number of our 3-G users watched live the religious proceedings at the Somnath Temple, on their laptops and mobile phones,” Mr Nipun Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, Gujarat Circle, told Business Line here today.

With increasing problems such as logistics, crowds, lack of amenities at many pilgrimage centres, occasional stampedes and accidents, the devout's dependence on 3-G services for religious practices is only expected to increase.

The company had recently introduced customised live aarti being performed daily at famous temples in Gujarat – Ambaji in North Gujarat and Somnath in the Saurashtra region, as part of the 3-G package. For this, Tata DoCoMo had outsourced to local parties the coverage of all the daily aartis at these shrines.

The live darshan service could be accessed by both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers across 14 major towns and cities in the State. “This demonstrates how technology can bridge physical distances with the click of a button,” he added.

So far, apart from Ambaji and Somnath, Tata DoCoMo has also offered to its customers live darshan, aartis and religious practices at major shrines like Shirdi Ke Sai Baba, Shani Shingnapur, Kolhapur's Mahalaxmi, the Mahim Dargah and Haji Ali (all Maharashtra), and Kashi Vishwanath (Uttar Pradesh). Besides, pilgrimage places like the Shankaracharya, Kamakshi and Shri Balleshwar, as also the Gurudwaras like Patna Sahib and Sisganj Sahib have also been covered.

“In due course, we would be adding more shrines to our 3-G service,” Mr Sharma said.

Tata DoCoMo subscribers can access the live aarti darshan of these shrines by selecting the “prayer” or “karaoke” option which is a video-calling application on the mobile device. The service is also accessible while on roaming within the Tata DoCoMo 3-G network during the shrine's opening-to-closing hours. “The devout can instantly get blessings of the deity by witnessing live darshan!”

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