In a first-ever tie-up with an Indian
company, AOL, a division of leading US
media company Time Warner, and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
of India has entered into a strategic
partnership which would bring AOL’s
products and content to MTNL
subscribers through a co-branded
portal.
MTNL is the leading provider of
broadband and telecommunications
services in Delhi and Mumbai.
The co-branded portal named
mtnl.aol.in will offer a combination
of AOL products such as easy-to-use
e-mail service, instant messenger,
content straddling across channels
like Cricket, Bollywood, Hollywood,
music including integrated videos in
many channels, besides MTNL utilities
like services and product offerings,
games, tariff plans, and customer
care.
Users of MTNL will have the option of
making mtnl.aol.in as their default
destination to access content across
various channels, according to a
statement from AOL.
AOL is a well-known name with internet
users in the United States, but has
not yet made its presence felt among
Indian users. It hopes to tap the
Indian market through the new portal.
The home page of the portal features a
separate block for MTNL, with links to
all of its services.
According to P G Ponnapa,
vice-president and general manager of
AOL, a majority of content on the
portal would be created by a team from
India except for international and
Hollywood channels.
Meanwhile, from August 24, 2007, MTNL
broadband customers in Delhi and
Mumbai will be able to make an
international subscriber dialling (ISD)
call to any part of the world for as
low as 1 rupee a minute through their
fixed-line phones.
MTNL, the state-owned public sector
undertaking, becomes the first telecom
company in India to offer internet
telephony, or voice over internet
protocol (VoIP), where subscribers can
enjoy very cheap ISD calls without
even having a computer at home.
For those who wish to access MTNL’s
internet telephony through their
personal computers (a PC to PC call),
the tariffs are likely to be as low as
10 paise a minute.
If one does not have a PC at home but
wishes to make cheap ISD calls, one
has to subscribe to MTNL’s broadband
connection (which comes with monthly
rentals starting at Rs 199) and also
buy an analog telephone adaptor (ADA)
from MTNL for Rs 1,500.
The adaptor converts the fixed-line
phone into an internet protocol (IP)
device so that the user does not have
to use a computer and carry it over
the broadband internet line.
MTNL has tied up with Aksh Optifibre
to offer the VoIP service.
