Press releases/Aircel partners with Wikimedia

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Aircel partners with Wikimedia Foundation to offer free mobile Wikipedia access through Wikipedia Zero
Aircel subscribers to be the first in India to have free access to Wikipedia on their mobile
phones
SAN FRANCISCO and NEW DELHI -- July 25, 2013: Aircel and the Wikimedia Foundation today
announced a partnership to offer Wikipedia on mobile phones without any data charges to Aircel
customers. The alliance is aimed at making knowledge available on Wikipedia accessible to all
Aircel customers in both rural and urban areas for free. This is the first service of its kind to formally
launch in India.
This partnership is part of the Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Zero program, which focuses on
reaching the billions of people around the world whose primary opportunity to access the internet is
via a mobile device. The partnership will help provide Wikipedia to 60 million new users in the
region.
Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer for Aircel, said, Through our alliance with the Wikimedia
Foundation, Aircel is not only making internet services reach a wider audience, but also helping to
encourage and enrich the lives of our customers by offering access to knowledge and information
free of cost. We are excited about this partnership and hope this initiative will benefit all our
customers from various age groups.
We hail Aircels commitment to enhancing and expanding access to free knowledge for their mobile
customers. With the partnership, we extend our program to India where we potentially reach millions
of people for the first time. said Kul Takanao Wadhwa, Head of Mobile with the Wikimedia
Foundation. Aircel is one of the operators across the globe that has contributed towards expanding
free access to Wikipedia Zero to 470 mn mobile users.
Aircel customers will be able to access versions of Wikipedia in English, Hindi, Tamil, and 17 other
Indic languages.
Aircel is a young, data led telecom player and has been continuously innovating products and
services to offer convenience to its young customers. The company has recently introduced various
noteworthy data products like Pocket Internet Smart and the recent Pocket Internet 24, which offers
internet at less than 1 rupee a day. Therefore, Aircel aims to empower and inspire the youth by
enhancing their data experience.
Questions and answers about this partnership can be found at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships#Aircel
About Aircel Limited
http://www.aircel.com
Aircel is one of Indias leading pan India operators. It won 3G spectrum in 13 circles and
BWA spectrum in 8 circles and has successfully launched 3G services which is the fastest
3G roll out ever in the Indian Telecom Space. Aircel has been constantly innovating
products and services and is credited with making 3G affordable to masses by launching
Pocket Internet Smart which offers best value 3G packs. Aircel Pocket Internet Smart gave a
boost to 3G adoption in the country as it is a true value for money product that allows
consumers to access unlimited 3G data at extremely affordable prices. Aircel has positioned
itself as a data led telecom player and has addressed the multi-functionality of a mobile
phone in many innovative ways which are Industry firsts, be it the Aircel Pocket Internet,
Pocket Internet Games and Facebook Voice Updates on Aircel. Aircel is also a preferred
telecom network to launch Apple iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. For more
information, please log on to www.aircel.com.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
http://wikimediafoundation.org
http://blog.wikimedia.org
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the
other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 517 million
unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most popular web property world-
wide (comScore, April 2013). Available in 285 languages, Wikipedia contains more
than 25 million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of roughly
80,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an
audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
Wikimedia Foundation media contact
Matthew Roth
Communications
+1 415-839-6885 ext 6635 (San Francisco)
mroth wikimedia.org
Aircel media contact
Bhavya Suri
Corporate Communications
+ 91 8802999046 (India)
bhavya.suri aircel.co.in