Mobile service provider Aircel is all set to empower young and old alike with the launch of Free Basic Internet (FBI) browsing service for all new customers.
The FBI service would enable new (prepaid) users avail the service for free at speed of 64 kbps (kilo bits per second) for 90 days – from the date of activation and will work on all 2G and 3G networks, K Sankara Narayanan, Strategic Business Unit Head, Aircel said.
Stating that the service would enable users perform basic applications such as social chat, search function and access email, he said “it is not intended for video streaming and video calling, gaming and movie downloads. While empowering users access the Net, we also want to ensure safe surfing.”
Sharing some insights on data usage based on usage frequency he said “70 per cent of our customers access data for just about 10 days/ month. There is therefore a huge opportunity to tap this space.”
“Those that used data regularly invariably bought a pack. While price could be a factor for those without an Internet pack, we also inferred that those without a pack used the data for least number of days. We intend to bring such users into data usage fold and experience the power of the Net on the go.”
The findings further revealed that the search application topped mobile internet usage followed by Whatsapp chatting.
The product was therefore designed “keeping in mind the dramatic increase of mobile data users for whom data usage is as much a part of their daily lives as voice calling”.
With search and social chats dominating the data usage service on the mobile, this product would facilitate category expansion, he added.
Aircel, according to him has a customer base of over 2 cr in TN. “We are adding around 5.5 lakh new customers every month,” he said.