Airtel launches largest global mobile music initiative

Mumbai: Airtel today announced the launch of Airtel Easy Music across the country for its prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers from over 100,000+ Airtel retail outlets across the country.

Airtel subscribers can walk in to any Airtel Easy Music outlet, select the music of their choice and the retailers will download the song in to the customer's mobile in just 60 seconds either as a 'hello tune' or as a ring tone depending on customer's preference. This makes it easier for  customers to download the music of their choice without having to navigate the traditional SMS or IVR route. Hemant Sachdev, director, marketing and communication, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, says, "India is a nation of music lovers. A veritable music industry in its own right, mobile music is set to take the music world by storm and will herald an era of easy access to choicest music. Airtel's innovative Easy Music service not only spells convenience, but offers more choice and better access; with over one lakh music retail outlets, Airtel Easy Music will provide the largest music bank to all our customers within easy reach."

Airtel says that it launched the 'hello tune' service in 2004, marking the debut of mobile music in India. Today, a host of categories are available to mobile users to choose from - western music, pop, rock, ballads, trance, blues, techno, rap, reggae, western classical to ghazals, Bollywood songs, old film classics, remixes, devotional songs and Indi-pop. Jay Kim, senior executive vice president, WiderThan Co. Ltd., an affiliate of SK Telecom, said, "Easy Music is a revolutionary product that has never been attempted by any mobile operator in the world. With the market for mobile music set to grow exponentially in India, I believe that this product is set to redefine music retailing and will be a benchmark service for all operators internationally."

Airtel says this service will make it the largest music retailer in the world.

Trends indicate that mobile music reach cuts across age and gender barriers. More and more subscribers from varying socio-economic strata, different age groups spanning 12-60 years of age and with varying tastes are opting for music choices on their mobiles. Ushering in an era of convenience while offering a wide spectrum of songs, Airtel Easy Music is all geared to take millions more into its fold.

Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of India's leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with an aggregate of over 19.74 million customers as of February 2006, and is the only operator to provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The company also provides telephone services and internet access over DSL in 15 circles. it is a part of the consortium, which has developed and jointly owns the next generation SEA-ME-WE-4 undersea cable system.