(22 August 2007 3:52 pm)

MUMBAI: Indian broadband and telecommunications service provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Time Warner's AOL have entered into a strategic partnership that would bring AOL's products and content to MTNL consumers through a co-branded portal.

Titled mtnl.aol.in, it will offer a combination of AOL products that includes its e-mail service, instant messenger, content across channels like cricket, Bollywood, Hollywood, music and integrated videos in many channels. This will be in addition to MTNL utilities like services and product offerings, games, tariff plans and customer care.

Moreover, MTNL users will have the option of making mtnl.aol.in as their default destination to access content across these channels.

MTNL executive director J Gopal said, "With adoption of Broadband skyrocketing, this strategic partnership leveraging the inherent strengths of MTNL‘s network and AOL as a global web services player will bring to our subscribers a world class Internet experience."

AOL VP and GM PG Ponnapa stated, "We are happy to have partnered with MTNL in launching this portal. AOL’s suite of products and services layered over MTNL’s expertise in total telecommunication services including internet access services and broadband services will catalyze the adoption of the Internet for the broadband era."

Currently, MTNL has a broadband user base of 500000 in both Delhi and Mumbai. Both the players would share the advertisement revenue. About 35 per cent of the ad revenue would go to MTNL and rest to AOL.

MTNL said that it currently has a backlog of about 30,000 broadband users which would be cleared by October. It is also planning to add another million mobile connections by March 2008.