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Twitter adds ‘Official’ label for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some other big verified accounts

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NEW DELHI: An ‘Official’ label has been added to the Twitter handle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other ministers as the US-based social media platform started rolling out a feature to distinguish between the Twitter Blue account and verified accounts.

Modi’s verified blue tick Twitter handle @narendramodi was marked ‘Official’ with a tick mark enclosed in a circle.

The same was label was also seen on the Twitter handles of Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and some other ministers.

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, some other opposition party leaders as well as sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar too were given that label.

This is in line with Twitter’s just-announced changes for verified accounts, as part of its new USD 8 premium subscription product.

The ‘Official’ label is given for select verified accounts including major media outlets and governments.

Twitter official Esther Crawford in a tweet said: “A lot of folks have asked about how you’ll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the ‘Official’ label to select accounts when we launch.”

“Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase. Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures,” she said.

The new Twitter Blue, she said, does not include ID verification. “It’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”

The changes come days after the world’s richest man Elon Musk took over Twitter Inc for USD 44 billion and brought in a slew of changes, including a subscription programme and a new verification system.

He has announced a USD 8 per month price tag for the Blue Tick verification of handles.

Twitter’s chargeable blue tick verification service is expected to roll out in India in “less than a month”, Musk had said on Sunday.

“Hopefully, less than a month,” Musk tweeted in response to a Twitter user’s query on when the service is expected to be launched in India.

Earlier this month, Musk had announced that verification blue tick in front of a user’s name that authenticates an account will be charged USD 8 per month.

Twitter’s strategy to introduce a monthly charge for the verified badge has polarised users globally.

Musk, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, completed his USD 44-billion takeover of Twitter in October-end, placing the world’s richest man at the helm of one of the most influential social media apps in the world. He also fired the social media company’s four top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and legal executive Vijaya Gadde.

Twitter then proceeded to fire the majority of its over 200 employees in India as part of mass layoffs across the globe ordered by Musk who is looking to make the blockbuster acquisition work.

 

Source: Press Trust of India

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Airtel announces its largest ever 5G roll-out in 125 cities

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NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s telecommunications services provider, today announced the launch of its ultra-fast 5G services in 125 cities. Airtel 5G Plus service is now available to customers in over 265 cities in the country.

Airtel 5G Plus has three compelling advantages for customers. First, it runs on a technology that has the widest acceptance in the world with the most developed ecosystem. This ensures that all 5G smartphones in India seamlessly work on the Airtel network. Second, the company promises to deliver the best experience – between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than today coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect. Finally, Airtel 5G Plus network will also be kinder to the environment with its special power reduction solution. Powered by the reliable Airtel network infrastructure, Airtel 5G Plus will provide superfast access to High-Definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos et all.

Commenting on the launch, Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel said, “5G has revolutionized the world of internet, ushering new era of connectivity and communications that will prove to be a game-changer for the country. At Airtel, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality of network and service to our customers as we roll-out 125 more cities today. Airtel was the first in the country to offer 5G services in October 2022, and today’s mega launch is our promise to connect every Airtel customer in the country with ultra-fast Airtel 5G Plus. Our 5G rollout is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024.”

Airtel 5G Plus service availability will continue to rapidly expand – including service in all towns and villages in the country soon – as the company is working towards offering nationwide coverage. Airtel is now offering its 5G services in every major city from the upper northern city of Jammu to the southern tip of Kanyakumari.

In the last one year, Airtel has demonstrated the power of 5G with a host of powerful use cases that will change the way customers lead their lives and do business. From India’s first live 5G network in Hyderabad to India’s first private 5G network at the BOSCH facility in Bengaluru to partnering with Mahindra & Mahindra to make its Chakan manufacturing facility, India’s first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit, Airtel has been at the forefront of 5G innovation.

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Comviva introduces 5G-Compatible ADriN platform

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NEW DELHI: Comviva, a global leader in customer experience and data monetization solutions today announced the launch of its 5G compatible Application Driven Network Platform, ADriN to offer a unified, simplified, secured experience to the B2B2X value chain of Digital Service Providers, Enterprises, Hyperscalers, application developers and the smart device ecosystem.

Comviva’s ADriN platform boasts dynamic capabilities that allow it to understand the behavior of connected devices in real-time. This enables the platform to orchestrate and deliver personalized, intent-driven experiences in a secured and controlled environment, regardless of the underlying experience providers – DSPs, Enterprises and Hyperscalers.

Excited at this development, Comviva CEO, Manoranjan (Mao) Mohapatra said, “At Comviva, we prioritize creating unique experiences for our customers’ end-users to remain relevant. Our commitment to deeper customer engagement and significant investments has led to the development of ADriN, a platform that simplifies the user experience in the untapped B2B2X segment. With new engagement models centered around ARR and Network-as-a-Service, ADriN is positioned to become a critical contributor to any experience provider’s top-line growth.”

ADriN simplifies the process of capturing and understanding the intentions of end customers of enterprises and digital service providers. It offers an easy-to-use interface that delivers a trusted and secure service experience. Using ADriN, intentions are captured and processed through machine learning applications across various devices, which in turn creates a real-time service catalogue. This enables networks and infrastructures to respond in a specific manner to ever-changing intentions.

This creates lucrative monetization opportunity for the custodians of the B2B2X value chain with the adoption of ARR models, such as Network-as-a-Service. The monetization opportunity is highly attributed to the intents captured from the end consumer’s devices or machines or interface through their simple native language. ADriN effectively processes and converts this intent into open call models and open APIs, which seamlessly integrate into the ecosystem. This orchestration results in a personalized experience for the consumer, without the need to worry about the network custodians they are connected to, be it G network or other networks.,

Speaking at the launch, Swapnil Shah, Vice President for 5G and Edge Business Group at Comviva said, “ADriN has received strong validation in recent time from niche ecosystem players like digital service providers, enterprises and hyperscalers. With the growing popularity of AI-based operations, ML-driven devices, and application developer communities, ADriN is poised to make a distinct impact on the B2X and B2B2X value chains in the coming years. The collaborative efforts of CAMARA, 5G PPP, ORAN, TIP, 5G ACIA, GSMA Op, ETSI, 3GPP, VEPP, and DSPs have also contributed to democratizing organic networks for developers, while government-driven initiatives have paved the way for an intent-driven future.”

ADriN utilizes an ecosystem agnostic platform approach to comprehensively understand the intention of devices. It dynamically creates policy configurations, marketplace operations, generates slices, and performs numerous other functions over a nimble service engine that seamlessly interacts with infrastructure, hyperscaler, and network functions. The platform is highly flexible, enabling it to meet the unique needs of diverse ecosystems.

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Twitter Blue plans announced in India: Pay Rs 900 per month for blue tick

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NEW DELHI: Microblogging site Twitter on Thursday announced the subscription plans for Twitter Blue in India. The users in India will have to pay to keep their Twitter Blue subscription active and use the additional features.

To use the Twitter Blue services in India on android mobile or iPhones, users would need to pay Rs 900 per month. A subscription plan on the web will cost Rs 650 per month. The company also offers an annual subscription plan for web users at Rs 6,800 annually.

The new subscriptions to Twitter Blue are currently available on the web, iOS, or Android in India, the US, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand, Brazil, the UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Australia.

The subscribers will get several services like undo tweets, edit tweets, early access to some features, the ability to post longer and high-quality videos, along with prioritised rankings in chats. They may also encounter half the number of ads compared to the non-subscribers.

“Ultimately our goal is to provide enough value through premium features that people feel that it is worth paying for. And we hope to offer fewer ads for Twitter Blue subscribers in the future,” Twitter said.

To enjoy the benefits, however, they will have to be on the platform for at least 90 days before the date of application.

Twitter also said that once a user has subscribed to Twitter Blue, changes to the profile photo, display name, or username will result in losing the blue checkmark until the account is validated. No further changes will be allowed during this review period.

The users will also be allowed to cancel their Twitter Blue subscription.

“Your Twitter Blue features will expire at the end of your billing cycle. To avoid further charges, cancel your Twitter Blue subscription at least 24 hours before the auto-renewal period. Cancelling won’t give you a refund for amounts already paid,” it said.

Source: Press Trust of India

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