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Star Wireless ready to roll by July end
MUMBAI: Star’s wireless services, thus far known by short code 7827, is to ready roll out in a charged up avatar by the end of July.
Radio City COO, Sumantra Dutta who now dons the additional hat of Star India’s newly created wireless business development division, told indiantelevision.com today that 7827 will be leveraged in the coming months to provide a range of services including exclusive content from the Star stable, mobile gaming (custom made Kyunki… games, to give an example) as well as help lines and info services.
The marketing campaign for the envisaged next big revenue spinner in entertainment is likely to break in the next three weeks. “It’s a good business for a broadcaster like us with television and radio content to get into, because we have the ability to talk to 200 odd million people on a daily basis, and are able to communicate about the 7827 service for tones, downloads, a whole range of service,” says an enthusiastic Dutta.
7827 has been around for two years, but is going to be leveraged like nothing seen before in the next two weeks. Dutta says the decision to give 7827 a focus in terms of making a separate division for it was taken towards the beginning of the year, when it was realised that it would work. An internal project team worked on the concept for India mid 2003, with representations from Star management teams in different markets China, India, Taiwan and the Middle East, of which Sumo Dutta was a part, and where it was decided that SMS was going to have a huge business potential. A couple of months ago, says Sumo, he was given the charge of a separate division to set up to look into this business.
Star Wireless, as it is being termed, will work totally on and feed off television and radio, because the content and the ability to talk to the masses is available only through these media, which can keep reinforcing the message. There will be a large amount of non Star content that Star Wireless will provide, says Dutta
The other content offered could be linked to best deals, astrology, traffic, medical emergencies, logo downloads, wallpapers, mobile phone gaming… the list is endless.
Star Wireless will operate on a revenue share basis with cell operators in the country, all of whom have been tied in, except for BSNL, with whom talks are in progress and with Reliance for the CDMA front. “We are helping further their business,” he points out, by “developing the culture of SMSing and driving mass SMSing.”
Importantly, Star has the wherewithal to educate the masses about how to SMS via the airwaves, as well as push the services.
The positioning of the revamped version of 7827 will be that it is the short code of choice for the masses, and the communication in the campaign currently being worked on is that ‘7827 has arrived.’
The initial set of services will focus on the exclusive content that Star has. “You can interact with our shows on TV and radio, play games, contests, which in itself is a big offering,” says Dutta.
The Star Wireless team will comprise just a dozen key people, because a lot of the business, as Dutta says, will be done on alliances with multiple partners.
The biggest investment apart from that in infrastructure and people will be in airtime, to educate the masses about the use of 7827, a process that will go on for a few months initially.
Talking about the growth of the division, Dutta says Star plans to target a large subset of the 200 million TV viewers who happen to be mobile phone owners. In the next six months, at least 30 per cent of the market will be cornered by 7827, and by the end of the July fiscal next year, 50 per cent of the market.
Star Wireless will not intervene with programming in any way, although Sumo says internationally the business does help ratings go up. It will help in brand recall, increase interactivity and involvement.
It will move towards a monthly subscription parameter, but right now, Star is focusing on developing mass usage of services that are offered, to check which are feasible and then put the more used ones into a package, says Dutta.c
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Business Today MindRush returns to Mumbai, spotlight on India’s edge in a fractured world
Policymakers and corporate heavyweights gather to map supply chains, energy security and markets
MUMBAI: As fault lines widen across global trade and geopolitics, Business Today is doubling down on India’s moment. The 14th edition of Business Today MindRush & Best CEOs Awards lands in Mumbai on March 28, pitching India’s strategic edge at the centre of a fragmenting world.
The day-long summit, presented by PwC, will bring together a tight mix of policymakers, industry leaders and market voices to decode shifting supply chains, maritime strategy, defence priorities, energy security and capital markets—sectors now deeply entangled with geopolitics.
M Nagaraju, secretary, department of financial services, ministry of finance, will headline the event, setting the tone for discussions that aim to track how India is repositioning itself amid disrupted trade routes and volatile energy dynamics.
The speaker slate reads like a cross-section of India Inc’s command centre. Krishna Swaminathan will zero in on sea lanes and supply chains, while Prashant Ruia is set to push the case for self-reliance in oil and gas. Ashish Chauhan will weigh in on capital markets at a pivotal juncture, as a panel featuring Vibha Padalkar, Sanjiv Mehta, Amish Mehta and Sanjeev Krishan debates navigating economic uncertainty.
Leadership under pressure will be another running theme. Madhavkrishna Singhania, Sharvil Patel, Karan Bhagat and Anurag Choudhary will unpack how businesses are steering through disruption. Arun Alagappan will turn the spotlight on fertilisers, Arundhati Bhattacharya will reflect on leadership transitions, while Anish Shah and S Vellayan will outline blueprints for building future-ready conglomerates.
The event will close with Aroon Purie setting the broader editorial lens, before the Best CEOs Awards recognise standout corporate leadership across sectors.
At a time when the global order looks increasingly splintered, MindRush 2026 is positioning itself as more than a conference—it is a signal that India intends not just to navigate the churn, but to shape it.
