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Bharti Airtel said it has partnered with Google to launch a service 'Free Zone', wherein subscribers will be able to access Google services such as gmail, Google+ and Google search on their mobile phones without any data cost.
The users, however, have to pay for advanced services such as attachment downloads, the company said. Here is what Bharti Airtel Chief Marketing Officer (Consumer Business) N Rajaram had to say about the new service.
How does this work?
Free Zone powered by Google, will give Airtel mobile customers access to mobile web search and feature phone friendly versions of Gmail and Google+ in India. The first page of a website linked from search results is provided at no data cost.
What happens after the first page?
When users leave the Free Zone to navigate deeper into a website or download an attachment they are informed about the data charges and given the option to purchase an appropriate data package.
What will be the benefit to your customers?
In this market, where feature phones predominate, our association with Google to bring Free Zone to India will encourage millions of users to discover the power of mobile Internet for the very first time and leverage the amazing world of information search, email and social collaboration - at no incremental cost.
Users can have unlimited access to Gmail from their mobile browser but if they click on a link or attachment within the email they are directed to a page where they can purchase a data package.
In the same way, subscribers can search Internet and access the first page of websites from the results for free. If they click further into a website after that, they are directed to a page where they can purchase a data package, it added.
