Bharti Airtel has partnered with Opera Software to offer Airtel mobile customers across India, South Asia and Africa a customized and co-branded version of the Opera Mini internet browser.
The telecom operator is hoping to leverage Opera Mini’s unique proxy-server-based technology to compress data by up to 90% and decrease their customer’s data transfer costs. According to the software maker, Opera Mini has a very small footprint and high level of usability, allowing it to provide a consistent user experience across a broad range of handsets.
Speaking on the partnership, K Srinivas, President – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel, said: “We are excited to bring a superior browsing platform to Airtel mobile customers across India and South Asia by leveraging Opera Mini’s tried-and-tested set of solutions. We are confident that this association will be instrumental in helping us deliver a truly customized, enhanced and optimized browsing experience for our data users.”
Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software, also commented on the deal: “Our primary drive is to provide the best user experience, no matter what device people use. There are millions of users with basic mobile phones instead of smartphones, and Opera Mini gives even the most basic phone a smartphone-like web experience. We are happy to welcome Airtel into our partner community. Airtel’s strong presence in emerging markets, combined with Opera Mini’s technology, will make the mobile web available to millions of new users.”
This is not Opera Software’s first such collaboration with a telecom operator, and has similar agreements with 13 top operators across the world. Users can as before download the Opera Mini browser from m.opera.com, or visit the Airtel App Store.