Google India has partnered with India’s top telecom operator Bharti Airtel to offer an innovative service called ‘Free Zone‘ under which Airtel customers can have free access to Google mobile services at absolutely no data charges. The Free Zone powered by Google enables customers with internet-enabled mobile phones to access Google Mobile services like Google Search, feature phone friendly version of Gmail service and Google+. In addition the first page of a website linked from Google search results is provided at no extra data cost, which makes the whole offer more interesting.
To subscribe to the service visit airtel freezone (www.airtel.in/freezone) or Google Free Zone (g.co/freezone) page on your mobile, then sign into your Google account to enjoy Google mobile services for free without any data charges. To help users in browsing, as long as they see a green bar displaying “free page” at the top of the mobile screen, they won’t be charged for using Free Zone and anything after that will be charged according to the subscribers data pack. In addition airtel has a limit in place with free data usage on Free Zone, which is available up to a limit of 1GB per month.
With Free Zone enabled subscribers can use –
- Google Search – to browse the internet with Google Search to find scores, recipes, local restaurants, movies and so much more. With new Google Now card like view it easy to find more details on a query.
- Gmail – Users can read and send mails on mobile Gmail version accessable through m.gmail.com. But for downloading and attaching attachments you need to purchase one of the mobile internet data packs offered by Airtel
- Google+ – the social networking for Google, connect with your friends, share photos and interact with others who share the same passions.
Customers can access the Free Zone using the default phone browser or through Opera Mini. The service is optimized for non-smartphones or feature phones, but it will work on a smartphone as well. User will be charged when they try to browse a link outside of Google+ or Gmail or if they want to view an email attachment. With reduction in 2G data rates by Airtel to 1 paisa per 10 KB, users won’t get charged too high on browsing outside the Google mobile service.