PRESS RELEASE
Mumbai, January 21, 2003
Hutchison Essar affiliated companies in India today announced the launch of 'HutchAlive', the world's first personalized, interactive broadcast service in a simultaneous introduction across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. HutchAlive marks a quantum jump in utilizing cell broadcast technology to deliver a wide range of text-based infotainment services. In this application, the cell broadcasts a short message that arrives unobtrusively on a subscriber's phone, and should the consumer wish to participate or seek more information, follows it up with a detailed message and richer content. The service was launched jointly by Asim Ghosh, Managing Director of Hutch India operations and Yossi Wellingstein, Chief Executive Officer, Celltick, in Mumbai today.
HutchAlive is a product made simple by the use of sophisticated technology and elaborate back-end processes. Messages are delivered simultaneously to a large number of mobile phones at a frequency of one message per minute. These messages land up unobtrusively directly on the mobile phone screen without even a beep or a flash of light. Should the consumer happen to glance at the message and respond to it, does it become an interactive utilization of the service. The consumer can of course activate and de-activate the service anytime he wishes simply at the touch of a button using his handset.
Content is the other mainstay of the service. Key areas of content are News, Cricket, Entertainment, Fun Zone, Astrology, Lifestyle and Promotional Offers. Within these, several sub-heads are covered, such as international news, sports news, movie reviews, local events, ring tone downloads, games, polls, etc. The list can be endless and in time, can be fine tuned to reflect consumer preferences. Considerable skill is required to programme fresh content every day so that it remains live and relevant to the consumers. And should the consumer wish to interact with any message, greater information is delivered to him using several linkages including SMS/voice/WAP.
HutchAlive makes the mobile phone far more powerful and interactive than it has ever been before; literally making the phone come alive. It is the newest way of making our consumers stay in touch with what is happening around them.
HutchAlive comes to consumers at no extra charge. The cell broadcast messages are free and should the consumer wish to initiate a transaction, only regular SMS/voice/WAP rates are applicable.
This service works on most phase II+ and new handsets and requires a special HutchAlive enabled 32K SIM. The SIM also has the additional advantage of an extended phone book memory of 250 entries. While all new Hutch SIMs are HutchAlive enabled, the SIM is being offered free to existing Hutch consumers till March 31, 2003 under a special exchange plan.
Commenting on the launch of HutchAlive, Asim Ghosh said, "The real strength of HutchAlive is the way it is delivered - silently, simply, without disturbing the user or clogging his or her message box. This is permission marketing at its interactive best. This stems from our philosophy of simplifying user experience. This is another instance of Hutchison being the frontrunner in using technology to simplify and deliver value to its customers rather than thrusting technology on them. We are proud to be the first company in the world to deploy this application."
Speaking on the launch of the interactive broadcast service, Yossi Wellingstein, said, "We are happy to partner Hutchison, continuing our global relationship, and deploying the first interactive broadcast application in the world. The way this technology makes a wide range of infotainment content available, without disturbing the user, is unique. In India, we have an exclusive arrangement with Hutchison. We are also working with several other international operators in the UK, China, Portugal and Israel."
About Hutchison in India
Hutchison-affiliated companies operate cellular services in the four metros and three state circles - Orange in Mumbai; and Hutch in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Hutchison-affiliated companies have a combined subscriber base of over 2 million cellular subscribers in the country. Hutch was recently polled as 'India's Most Respected Telecom Company' by a Businessworld-IMRB Survey.
Contact:
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Arup Saikia Hutchison Max Telecom Mumbai Orange 9820018601 Fax: 022-2431 1111 e-mail: arup.saikia@orange.co.in |
Amrit Singh Deo Genesis PR Mumbai Orange 9820211064 Tel: 022-56603027 Fax: 022-2491 1788 e-mail: asinghdeo@genesispr.com |
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