Mobile operators in India looking to cash in on new subscribers this Diwali

 

The festive season is around the corner and mobile
operators in India have started doling out their festive goodwill for
customers. Kicking off the Diwali bonanza, starting October 1st,
Idea Cellular is providing prizes to existing and new subscribers in UP West,
Delhi, Dehradun and Uttarakhand, who recharge with Rs 20 or more. They will get
an opportunity to win prizes that range from Tata Nano cars, TV sets,
refrigerators and invertors, mobile handsets and gold coins. Other users who
take up a new Idea prepaid connection will also be entitled for the offer with
their first recharge.

 

With the new festival offer, Idea is now giving an
opportunity to our users to just spend Rs 20 on recharge and win high value
prizes this season. Idea is the largest mobile network in UP West, and we are
confident that the new offer will further strengthen our leadership position in
the market,” said N.F. Aibara, COO – UP West, IDEA Cellular.

 

Idea Cellular also announced Navratri offers for over 1.2 crore Idea subscribers in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh
circle.  Idea’s ‘Power of 9’ special Navratri packs will offer affordable
voice calls, SMS services, and 3G internet at Rs 9, during the festive season.

 

Two weeks ago, Idea Cellular also announced similar
offers in MP & Chattisgarh, titled -Rim Jhim Mein Idea ke saath manao Har
Din Diwali” for its prepaid subscribers in the state giving them an opportunity
to win exciting prizes like bikes, laptops, refrigerators, mobile phones, Idea
3G data cards, DVD players and much more. This is in addition to assured full
talktime on their recharges.

 

The special ‘Rim Jhim’ offer is open to over 1.2 crore
Idea subscribers in MP& Chattisgarh, available till 30th September 2011 and
winners will be announced at the end of the offer period. Apart from Lucky
recharge offers, Idea subscribers can also avail daily lucrative offers for the
next two months.

 

While BSNL prepaid subscribers will get full talk value
equal to MRP on all top-up vouchers for 2G and 3G for denominations of Rs 100
or more between 26th September and 7th October for Navratri and from 24th
October to 10th November, a special discount of 20 percent on the 7.2MBPS and
14.4 MBPS USB Data card is available to subscribers from 26th September to 26th
October. To avail of this, customers have to be on an existing 3G postpaid data
plan or recharge with any prepaid Data RCV/STV with MRP of Rs 400 or more. In
addition, a free 3G data card offer for 90 days or more with effect from 26th
of September is available for BSNL 3G customers from any telecom circle
across India who will be provided 3.6 MBPS, Single Band, USB Type 3G data card
free of cost on certain rental plans.

 

Tata Sky
is offering special packages for Tata Sky+ HD and Tata Sky HD connections. As
part of the promotion for Diwali, installation charges on Tata Sky’s HD+ (PVR)
box will be waived off during Diwali. In addition, two months of free HD pack
will be offered with all HD boxes activating before Diwali. This is over and
above the 2 months free subscription of the base package being offered. These
offers are available for new and existing Tata Sky subscribers.

 

The exhilaration of HD is currently at an upward trend
and we are witnessing a significant amount of our subscribers opting for HD
content on our platform every day. The trend clearly signifies that there is a
huge demand for HD and is soon becoming the future of television viewing among
subscribers,” said Vikram Mehra, CMO, Tata Sky.

 

Philips
has also announced that through Shenzhen Sang Fei Communication, it will launch
an Android 2.3 and Java based 3G smartphone, X9320 in India by Diwali. The
phone will be a dual SIM with a 4.3 inch screen.

 

We will be launching an Android 2.3 and 3G smartphone
and it will be in the same price bracket in which most of the established
handsets marketers are offering their handsets,” said Satish Chopra, executive
director of Conplex International, distributors of Philips mobile phones in
India.

 

VAS based services have always been a key to enhancing
service providers’ ARPUs, with business from new subscribers and existing ones
peaking during festival time. However, in recent times, MNP has shown that VAS
alone does not ensure customer satisfaction, and even 3G has not helped in this
way. QoS is of greater importance, though operators are struggling to roll out
effective and efficient widespread network, due to the high cost of CAPEX
involved. With TRAI questioning recent increase in operator tariffs, and
greenfield operators like Uninor, Videocon and Loop offering more than full
talktime, established operators will now be under more pressure to regulate
tariffs and the festive offers may help in this regard.

 

By Beryl M
[email protected]