Mumbai, India — Yahoo India has entered into exclusive alliance with the fastest-growing Indian telecom operator Tata Teleservices, for providing online user interface to all Tata Indicom customers. Under the alliance, a co-branded Yahoo! India website would serve as the default homepage across all Tata Indicom internet access devices.
Continuing to innovate and introduce unique services for its subscribers in India, Tata Teleservices Limited, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Yahoo! India, the leading Internet company.
The strategic assosication with a co-branded homepage will enable Yahoo! India to reach out directly to millions of users subscribing to Tata Indicom Internet services, such as Photon Plug2Surf, Photon Plus and Photon Pro Wireline Broadband.
Tata Indicom subscribers will also be able to find relevant information on services like bill payment, tariff plans, promotions, etc. on the portal. At the same time, they will also have access to the best online content and communication services through Yahoo!’s flagship properties like Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Cricket, Yahoo! Mobile, etc. The Yahoo! India homepage already attracts around 3 million consumers every day.
“This alliance will allow Yahoo! to reach a wider audience in the internet and digital spaces, and gain access to a captive user base to create not only a deeper connection with users, but also deliver a seamless user experience across platforms,” TTSL Chief Marketing Officer Lloyd Mathias said.
Gopal Krishna, Vice-President and Head of Audience (Emerging Markets), Yahoo!, said: “Tata Teleservices’ fast-paced growth makes this partnership strategic and special for Yahoo! India. Providing world-class online content and services to a consumer on the go is integral to our growth. This partnership opens a brand new opportunity to deliver the best of Web content and services, anywhere and everywhere.”
Under this partnership, when a new Tata Teleservices customer logs in to the Internet using any Tata Indicom Internet access device or service, he/she will see a co-branded Yahoo! India homepage with ready access to all Yahoo! Services.
Zubin Jimmy Dubash, Assistant Vice-President (Value-Added Services), Tata Teleservices Limited, was instrumental in putting the TTSL-Yahoo! alliance in place. He said: “Tata Indicom is leading the way in delivering Next-Gen services and creating a new benchmark for convergence and data services. Our continued customer focus and emphasis on delivering the best experience and value to users is driving a new era of true convergence with the help of internet partner like Yahoo.”
This type of the association — of a portal tying up with a service provider — is a typical AOL style deal, and rather old hat. In fact, a couple of years ago, AOL India tied up with MTNL to make it the default homepage for MTNL ADSL (broadband) subscribers — in case of every new connection, the linesman would make AOL India the homepage for the consumers browser.
In the past, Google has also signed up with Airtel and Sify for providing Google Apps to users.