Airtel has launched ‘One Touch Internet,’ a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) portal aimed at simplifying internet services for non-data users.
Airtel has 19 million subscribers in Karnataka, and of the 90 per cent subscribers who are on pre-paid plans, nearly 70 per cent are non-data users.
The service is now available in English and Hindi to pre-paid customers. It will be available in eight Indian languages, including the four South Indian languages, in the next few weeks.
“Forty per cent of smartphone users in Karnataka do not access mobile internet as they perceive it to be very complicated and expensive. With One Touch Internet we would like to remove these barriers to data usage” said Rohit Malhotra, CEO, Airtel, Karnataka Circle.
In quarter two of financial year 2015 ended September 30, data contributed 14.5 per cent to Airtel’s overall revenue, up from 9.4 per cent in the same period last year.
Malhotra pointed out that surprisingly, data consumption per customer in terms of per site usage in Mangalore and Mysore was on par with that of customers in Bangalore.
Currently, the 3G data network has been rolled out to 60 per cent of Airtel sites in Karnataka, which Malhotra said would be 75 per cent by the end of the financial year.
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