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BSNL & IMImobile ring back tone services crosses 2 million subscribers
MUMBAI: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and IMImobile, the global provider of value-added services (Vas), have announced that their personalised ring back tone service (PRBT) has crossed 2 million users after launching a year ago. After the partnership in April 2007, 20,000 – 30,000 subscribers a month have been added through the PRBT service. In a time span of 52 days, one million users were achieved. IMImobile provides a regional-based content to BSNL in eight circles of North zone covering the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP East, UP West and Uttarakhand. BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal said, “BSNL is seriously looking at Vas as engine for future growth. PRBT, branded as BSNL tune, is one such service, which has not only added to customer delight but also increased Vas Arpu (average revenue per user) substantially. We chose IMImobile as our PRBT partner after a competitive evaluation process. IMImobile has not only provided us with rich content but also build a robust and scalable platform for this service. IMImobile has proved to be the right choice for these services as we reached 1 million subscribers in a record 52 days of launch and now we have 2 million subscribers using these services, and growing.”
IMImobile CEO and founder AR Vishwanath said, “It’s a pleasure to partner BSNL and we are delighted to reach this milestone of 2 million subscribers in such a short span of time. We are delighted at the consumer response and the considerable growth of the BSNL subscriber base over the last one year. Our robust and scalable technology coupled with content management and promotions tailored specifically for Northern India are the driving factors behind this success.”
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
