Airtel, Google Together Launches Airtel Live Portal
New Delhi – Indian telecom service provider Airtel Telemedia Services, on Monday announced the launch of “airtellive.com,” claimed to be an all-in-one Internet portal for its customers, making it the first telecom company in the country to launch such a portal, the company said in a statement.
“The service is powered by Airtel broadband and software-cum-Internet giant Google.”
Described by Airtel as a “new all-in-one internet portal” for its customers, the first-step is said to mark the first time a telecommunications firm in India has made Google products officially available on its portal.
The portal is looked upon as a milestone for Airtel; it builds upon the existing Broadband ecosystem infrastructure to establish an Internet destination for Web applications, said Atul Bindal, president of Airtel Telemedia Services during the launch.
“It emphasizes our commitment towards simplifying and adding value to our broadband customers and driving the adoption of broadband in the country.”
With the search engine provider co-branding the initiative, the portal will provide Airtel’s customers with free access to the Google Apps suite.
Customers at airtellive.com will get free access to a number of popular Google products including Google Applications messaging and collaboration suite which comprises Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar, spreadsheets and presentations, Airtel said.
“In addition, it also includes the Start Page feature which allows users to create a customizable home page.”
Airtel’s move is intended to give its customers easy access to Google’s simple yet powerful applications over the company’s fast and reliable Broadband network.
In order to offer up exclusive deals and discounts on the portal, besides Google, Airtel has also partnered with other Indian companies like shaadi.com, naukri.com and 24×7guru.
Users will beyond doubt enjoy the Airtel Live experience as the partnership includes two major powerhouses who will offer a good customer experience with their expertise and innovation.
Bharti Airtel Limited, a company of Bharti Enterprises group, spear-headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal, is the India’s leading integrated telecom services provider with an aggregate subscriber base of nearly 61.91 million.
According to social networking news blog Mashable, Google’s participation in the initiative is indicative of its goal to “expand across international reaches,” particularly in Central and Southeast Asia “where broadband access is very much still in an early stage of distribution”.