Company Press Release:
 
IDEA launches “Madhur”- Indian Music on the Mobile
  Extends Music Library on the mobile in association with the Indian Music Academy

New Delhi, June 26, 2006: IDEA Cellular, India’s leading cellular operator, today added another exciting new dimension to mobile entertainment with the launch of “MADHUR” - a niche & innovative collection of mobile music, focused towards a special segment of customers. MADHUR, a library of rich Indian music content by music maestros will appeal to the taste of customers who have an ear for fresh, soothing music with exclusive personalized needs.

This collection will be offered as Dialer Tones, Ring Tones, SMS tones, and Background tones to over 8 million Idea customers. The music clips will be available in both vocal and instrumental versions in 30-second editions and will be priced at regular tariff levels. Idea Cellular would also be coming out with various promotional offers on these tunes shortly.

Madhur, a classical mobile experience in music, rooted in India’s rich & vibrant cultural tradition is one more VAS initiative from Idea to increase value to customers. Some of the finest music from India’s greatest music maestros will be available on Idea Madhur in three categories- Vocal, Instrumental and Legendary. Artists who will feature in the Madhur collection are Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, to name a few. The various streams of Indian music available will include Ragas, mood based Ras, Chants, Music for stress relief, in the vocal category and Santoor, Mandolin, Violin, Flute, Sitar, Veena etc in instrumentals.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vikram Mehmi, CEO, Idea Cellular Ltd. said, “IDEA Madhur reiterates our everlasting commitment to enhancing our existing VAS portfolio. With Madhur it is our endeavour, to offer the melodies of India’s rich cultural heritage to our customers as music has taken on an unprecedented draw with mobile consumers. This genre of music, though niche, will find takers in an elite segment of customers and I am certain that Idea Madhur will create an engaging and unique mobile experience for them."


About IDEA Cellular:
As India’s leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11 circles. With a customer base of over 8 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP- West and Kerala. IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India’s population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market.

As a leader in Value Added Services, Innovation is central to IDEA’s VAS Factory. It is the first cellular company to launch music messaging with 'Cellular Jockey', ‘Background Tones’, ‘Group Talk’, a voice portal with ‘Say IDEA’ and a complete suite of Mobile Email Services. A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has the distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India, with ‘Super Power’, 2 Minutes Outgoing Free, Lifelong offer and other segmented offerings like Women’s Card. ‘Lifetime Idea’ is the first and only loyalty program, for pre paid customers, introduced by a Cellular brand.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand known for their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country.

The latest feather in the IDEA cap is the GSM Association Award for Bill Flash, it has recently won making it the first cellular operator in India to win an award on this platform.

Idea Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, which is India's first truly multinational corporation. Global in vision, rooted in Indian values, the group is driven by a performance ethic pegged on value creation for its multiple stakeholders.

More about IDEA Cellular Ltd. at http://www.ideacellular.com