Press releases/Aircel partners with Wikimedia Foundation

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 Aircel’s 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 India’s 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@undefinedwikimedia.org


 * Aircel media contact
 * Bhavya Suri
 * Corporate Communications
 * + 91 8802999046 (India)
 * bhavya.suri@undefinedaircel.co.in