News Broadcasting
U2opia Mobile Pioneers USSD Gateway on Cloud with Tigo Group
New Delhi, August 6, 2013 – Singapore-based mobile technology start-up, U2opia Mobile, has pioneered the next wave in value added services by extending their USSD platform and hosting a USSD gateway on cloud.
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a session-based technology that enables access to social and content services on mobile without an Internet connection. Among its most popular implementations is Facebook for USSD, which allows users to access Facebook on mobile, without internet. Its other implementations include access to Twitter, Google Talk and a host of content services.
With this innovation, the final barrier is removed for any telecom carrier to implement USSD services on its network, as it removes all dependency on the carrier’s own USSD gateway.
By deploying the USSD gateway on cloud, implementing USSD services becomes a plug-and-play process for any operator, vastly reducing the time and resources required. It successfully removes all hardware dependency from the process, making its implementation, as easy as a single-day process.
The first deployment of USSD gateway on cloud has been with the Tigo Group across El Salvador, Paraguay and Bolivia and the service has already racked up close to 70,000 users in the space of two weeks.
Commenting on the innovation, Sumesh Menon, CEO, U2opia Mobile, said, ‘While services powered through Fonetwish were a runaway success in practically every country we entered, deploying services through the host carrier’s USSD gateway did present a layer of complexity. There would invariably be issues relating to hardware, bandwidth and so on, thereby increasing the time needed for implementation.
By deploying the USSD gateway on cloud, that complexity is removed and the process is practically plug-and-play. It opens up a world of opportunity for every carrier globally, to provide value added services to their non-smartphone user base.’
U2opia Mobile pioneered the implementation of social and content services through their USSD platform Fonetwish in 2010 and now have operations in 25 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, catering to millions of users in 6 global languages across 40 telecom carriers.
The mobile technology start-up creates applications catering across the handset spectrum – from basic/feature phones to smartphones. With financial backing from Matrix Partners, they have offices across Singapore, India, Dubai and San Francisco.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
