Talking to reporters here last night, A Jinnah, state manager, IKSL, said that already districts of Villupuram, Erode, Cuddalore and Salem have been covered and the remaining districts would be covered before September end.
'It is a nation wide venture by Iffco and Airtel by creating an exclusive service platform meant for farming community. Already people in 14 states enjoy the services' he said.
The special feature included selling premier brand handsets at concessional prices, issuance of dedicated sim cards under the caption 'Iffco Airtel Green Card' which envisaged voice messages on agro-development inputs in vernacular media, he said.
The services also attract two year warranty service for the handsets, fully backed up after sales service for the farming community, elaboration of the connectivity network by installing adequate number of towers in remote villages by Airtel.
The joint venture of the fertiliser major and the mobile service provider envisaged a growth of 20 per cent year over year and with this trend it was hopeful that about 150 million customers would be enlisted by the year 2010-11, Jinnah said.
With the introduction of the scheme in five districts in Tamil Nadu, already 1,000 PACBs have been covered in the net work. In the second phase, the scheme would be extended to 2,000 PACBs, he said.
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Currently models ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,000 by Alcatel, Samsung and Philips were sold under the scheme. On the cards is a new model to be branded as Iffco it should be in the market soon.
The scheme included informative inputs meant for agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry activities for rural folks through voice mail or SMS.