Announcing the launch of the service, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said, "With the increasing mobile broadband penetration in India, the mobile phone is becoming the most important device for accessing Internet and social networking platforms. Nearly 50 percent of data users on the Idea network access Facebook on their mobile phones. The free Facebook Messenger service will enhance their social networking experience and enable Facebook users to chat with their contacts while on the move."
Kevin D'souza, Country Growth Manager, Facebook said, "Messaging is a fun and useful way to share privately and connect with friends in smaller personal groups. We are happy that Idea subscribers can now enjoy free access to Facebook Messenger and experience new features such as Chat Heads and Stickers. This partnership allows us to connect people in new areas and offer them the Facebook experience on the Idea network."
Idea Cellular is also offering Android smartphones in the Indian market. The company had recently launched Idea Aurus III smartphone priced at Rs. 6,990. Idea Aurus III features a 4-inch TFT screen that has a resolution of 480x800 pixels. It's powered by a 1GHz processor, has 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage, which is expandable by up to 32GB via microSD card. The dual-SIM phone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front facing camera. It runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).
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