Idea Cellular to Launch Digital Idea Services to Counter Jio and Airtel

[Mario D'souza]

India’s third-largest telecom service provider is all set to launch Digital Idea services to take on Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. When the whole nation is driven by entertainment, Ideal Cellular is still just limited to voice and data services. Realising the importance of entertainment, Idea Cellular is ready to provide full-fledged digital services.

The Aditya Birla Group telecom company is planning to start its own digital services within a week or two. The Digital Idea will be a home to the entertainment as it provides access to Idea Chat, Idea Music, Idea Games, Idea TV, and Idea Videos. As the Indian market is demand driven and there is a high demand in niches like entertainment.

Also Read: Idea Cellular to Offer Hourly Unlimited 4G/3G Data Pack at ₹22

Digital Idea Services from Idea Cellular:

Addressing the media, Mr Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular, said: “As we leapfrog from being a voice and data services provider to becoming a full-service digital solutions company, we continue to deliver on our promise of ‘changing lives’’ and become the catalyst in fuelling the Digital India movement.“

Idea Cellular has already made tie-ups and special agreements to offer Digital Idea content through a gamut of digital applications. The teleco will offer its own range of branded digital content to drive up data usage. Moreover, the company plans to schedule the launch of Idea TV, Idea News & Magazines, and Idea Storage in 2018. If the reports are to be believed then Idea Cellular is firm in entering video and music streaming, cloud storage, instant messaging, navigation, eCommerce etc.

Incidentally, the new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm is the pioneer in delivering digital services in India through its services in the telecom space. It has already built its digital ecosystem that has been motivating the other telecom players to speed up the launch of own digital content services. It is expected that Aditya Birla Idea Payment Bank will see the limelight in the first half of 2017.

Also Read: Idea New Ultimate 349 Plan to Offer Unlimited Voice Calls for Postpaid Users

Better Late than Never:

Both Bharti Airtel (with a suite of Apps) and Vodafone India (with Vodafone Play) are trying to engage their subscribers by providing Reliance Jio-like digital services to a certain extent. Idea Cellular is trying to project itself that the Digital Idea is a value proposition different from its rival companies.

If Idea Cellular provides Digital content then it has to face stiff competition from Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel as there are many popular services such as Hike, Jio Chat, Wynk Movies, Jio Play etc. If the incumbent telecom players don’t provide any innovative solution to their subscribers, then it’s highly difficult to protect their subscribers.Anyway, it’s always better late than never.

Also Read: Airtel Payments Bank offers free 1 Min Talk-time for Every Rupee on First Time Deposits