Public sector telecom firm – BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) is one of the leading telecom service provider in India. The company serves its customers with a wide range of telecom services at a minimal charge. Its foray into social network world is sure to give it an upper hand in the days to come over other telecom operators.
The state-run operator announced its plan for BSNL mobile subscribers to get access to Facebook without any internet or data connectivity. The service as BSNL claims would be available on all phones for an affordable charge of Rs.4, Rs.10, Rs.20 for 3 Days, weekly. The interested users just need to dial *325# from their mobile phone to access the service.
To materialize this scheme, BSNL has partnered with U2opia Mobile. Also, it is likely that offering would be provided through unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) technology. USSD technology is used by telecom operators to send alerts to their users. The service is already offered in East and South and it would soon be launched in West and North zones.
Facebook for USSD will enable users to access their Facebook accounts, view/post status messages, respond to friend requests, write on friends’ walls, view birthday reminders and send messages, all without any internet or data connection.
“Companies today are looking at enhancing the portfolio of offerings to voice and SMS customers and we are really excited to offer Facebook on USSD, given the rising popularity of social media. What makes it even more powerful is that Facebook for USSD works on any handset, making the service available to all subscribers. We are certain that services, like the ones we have launched today, would be much sought after in our portfolio”, said Anupam Shrivastava, Director, BSNL.
The step from BSNL aims to connect people who want to stay in touch with their Facebook friends – anytime, anywhere, on any mobile.
