Uninor offers scheme for Facebook, WhatsApp

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom operator Uninor, said it expects to double its 2G mobile Internet business by end of this year with low cost plans starting at 50 paise per hour.Telecom operator Uninor, said it expects to double its 2G mobile Internet business by end of this year with low cost plans starting at 50 paise per hour.

In line with the Norwegian parent's global strategy, Uninor is offering both apps at fixed prices, instead of measuring usage through megabytes and gigabytes. For example, an hour of unlimited Facebook app usage will cost 50 paise for a Uninor customer, while a day's usage will cost 1. WhatsApp will cost 1 for a day and 5 for the week. According to the company, this could lower a user's spending on those apps by about 50-60 percent.

As much as 24 percent of the company's about 28 million subscribers spread across six circles of UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat are data users. The company launched the offer in Gujarat on Monday and will soon launch in Maharashtra and Goa, the circles where Uninor has seen the highest internet consumption over the past year. Uninor will subsequently launch the programme in its remaining circles.

The company currently offers its services to pre-paid users over the second-generation mobile technology, which many say could hamper its plans to add data users since the speed on this technology is typically far slower than on 3G.