RIM, Indiatimes tie up for SMS-based services

February 28th, 2006

MUMBAI: Reliance Infocomm (RIM), the country's largest mobile service provider, has teamed up with Indiatimes.com, the youngest-ever 'Business Super Brand', for SMS-based infotainment services.

The tie-up will allow 90 lakh subscribers to download a wider bouquet of ringtones, including those of popular Indian and western rings, through Indiatimes 8888, an SMS-based infotainment service.

Through R World, RIM's customers will also be able to access other value-added services (VAS) such as games, contests, astrology, jokes and text-based services.

Mahesh Prasad, president, Applications and Solutions group at Reliance Infocomm, said: "Through this tie-up, both our post- and pre-paid customers will have access to polyphonic and rich media content via SMS; 8888's high recall value will tremendously benefit Reliance's growing customer base."

Times Internet CEO Mahendra Swarup said: "People in tier 2 and 3 cities are hungry for entertainment and information, and low internet penetration makes mobiles the only platform to access any news or entertainment."

Reliance Infocomm, which has taken the lead in this initiative, plans to add 4,000 more towns and cities to subscriber base by March 2005. In addition, RIM also plans to make its R World service a paid one soon.

Customers can avail of more features through this joint initiative with Indiatimes planning to launch more specific and personalised services through SMS in the future.

Indiatimes 8888 is the largest recall short code in India, receiving 18 lakh messages per day, more than 40 lakh unique users a month and 1 lakh ringtone downloads per day. It is the largest leading multi-faceted internet portal in India with interests in telecom, e-commerce, online advertisement solutions, events and guru seminars, and has over 1 billion page views a month.