Ashokjp 15 Report post Posted March 12, 2004 Bharti & Hutch To Introduce Virtual Airtime Recharge Source: Techtree News, March 12, 2004 India Pre-Paid Services has currently tied up with Bharti and Hutchinson to introduce its unique service of 'virtual airtime recharge'. The company will only offer virtual prepaid airtime services in Delhi and Mumbai by the end of this month. This new system will allow consumers to recharge their prepaid airtime of any mobile operator and of any denomination from third party retailers. Retailers too will benefit hugely from this service as they will no longer be required to hold airtime stock in physical form of cards and will have a fully integrated virtual ordering and delivery system available 24 hours a day. On the mobile operator's front, India Pre-Paid Services will help streamline their distribution system through a single network built on India Pre-Paid Services' proprietary software application. Operators will also be in a position to track sales of their prepaid connections through data on customer buying patterns. India Pre-Paid Services plans to grow its network of third party retailers and is currently in talks with banks, retailers, petrol companies and large shopping malls among others, to connect with their point of sale (POS) terminals and introduce its services making pre-paid recharge even more accessible to end consumers. India Pre-Paid Services is a 50:50 joint venture between The Pre-Paid Company, South Africa and Indian promoters Pramod Saxena and Sanjiv Lamba. The Prepaid Company is South Africa's leading distributor of pre-paid airtime, having approximately 70% of this market, in both the physical and virtual arenas. A market study by India Pre-Paid Services revealed that approximately 30% of India's prepaid customers leave outlets, disappointed as recharge cards of their choice of operator or the denomination they prefer is not available resulting in customer agitation. The virtual prepaid airtime system aims to address this issue and help operators retain their customers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
