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Spice Telecom in expansion mode, launches Kannada Wap portal
BANGALORE: Spice Telecom (Spice) has launched its Kannada Wap portal Kannada Kasturi.com. Times Internet (TIL) supplies content to the portal. On offer is a collection of polytones, pruetones, singtones, MP3 Tones, videos, animations, wallpapers, videotones and theme downloads in Kannada. Value added services including WAP. IVR, SMS, USSD and MyTunes (CRBT) will also be offered on KK. |
Spice CEO Navin Kaul is optimistic about doubling the existing subscriber base of 500,000 in Karnataka in the next 10 months. Spice is present in two circles – Punjab and Karnataka – with an overall subscriber base of 2 million, states an official release. Kaul also revealed Spice‘ Karnataka plan to increase the presence from the current 80 towns and cities to another 150. On a national scale, Spice proposes to bid for all the circles. Spice has now moved ahead of Tata Indicom in Karnataka, up from the last place to number five with the addition of around 150,000 subscribers over the last 5 to 6 months, claimed Kaul during a discussion with this reporter on the sidelines of the press conference. |
TIL Mobile Entertainment business head Neeraj Sharma claims that TIL owns rights to over 50000 picture (wall papers) and sound titles from India and around 10000 from across the world, a major portion of which is English. Times of India Director Sanjiv Sethi claims that TIL owns rights to a major portion – almost one third of the almost 2000-3000 titles of Kannada content. Plans are afoot to create awareness of KK. Spice Karnataka spends around Rs 180-200 million towards its media campaign. National TV ads have been a recent addition in the Spice campaign. A few moths ago spice roped in Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador. JWT looks after the creative business. |
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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.
