View Online Article

Network provider Airtel together with Affle have announced the launch of SMS2.0, an upgrade to SMS that we are so used to. Airtel happens to be the first operator in India to offer this new service to its subscribers.

SMS2.0 enables an interactive and non-intrusive platform on a mobile phone that allows users to discover a host of relevant content services along with enhanced messaging features.

As per the press release issued, “SMS2.0 is unique as it has leveraged the popularity of SMS, and has converged messaging, content, and contextual advertising into one seamless application, which resides as the default SMS application on the customer’s mobile handset”

“Trends indicate that youth and young professionals are more active users of messaging. SMS2.0 represents a huge opportunity for Airtel to differentiate itself and further gain both mind-share & market-share in these segments. This service will open up an entirely new set of options that will enrich the messaging experience of our customers. Our endeavor will be to continue to deliver new innovative services that not only simplify the communication experience of all Airtel users but also add more value to them,” commented Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Airtel.

The message personalization options include other features such as composing and sending messages using a variety of text and background colors and interesting emoticons.

Further, the content will include relevant content such as News, Jokes, Movies updates, Cricket and Astrology, which will be integrated seamlessly into the messaging experience.

Mail features of SMS2.0 at a glance:

Enhanced Features: The SMS2.0 upgrade provides enhanced messaging features to the user, leading to greater personalization for the SMS window including a variety of text colors, background colors and emoticons.

Contextual Content: SMS2.0 offers free content to the user, contextual to the interest areas selected by him. This contest is served as a small teaser on the Message Compose/Read window and a Full Screen, which appear along with the Message Sent/Sending window. Ease of Discovery: The SMS2.0 application resides as a default SMS application and is thus very easy for the user to discover without any additional training.

Free for users: SMS2.0 offers a better-upgraded SMS experience to users at the cost of their regular SMS.

Anuj Kumar, Executive Director (South Asia) Affle, says, “India is a very exciting mobile market and in Airtel we have found a great partner to take our services to users. We are confident that SMS2.0 would redefine the messaging experience for a large set of users and become their entry window to the world of Mobile Internet. We have already seen a very positive response from users, for the value features and the rich non-intrusive content, and expect to grow it substantially during this launch. We are very confident that given Airtel’s significant marketing efforts, this service would soon be accessible to a huge mass of users”