Update: Telecom operator Idea Cellular has also inked a similar partnership with Opera Software to launch Idea Web Pass for its subscribers. As part of this partnership, Idea Cellular will be offering three web pass packages to its subscribers - a Daily Internet pass for Rs 8, a weekly Internet pass for Rs 30 and a weekly Facebook pass for Rs 7. These passes can be purchased from within the Opera Mini browser. With this tie-up, Opera now has tie-ups with three top telcos in India for Web Pass - Airtel in Feb 2013, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Of this however, only Idea Cellular is currently live with Airtel and Vodafone yet to go live with their web pass offerings. Earlier (Feb 25): Vodafone India has partnered with the browser company Opera Software to launch Opera Web Pass for its customers in India. Vodafone says this partnership will allow them to replace the complex KB/MB-based data plans with time-based or content-based web-pass packages for its subscribers. For instance, users can now pay to browse social networking sites for a day or an hour, rather than keeping track of the MBs consumed. Vodafone believes this move will encourage more subscribers to start using data services and also help increase the data usage among the existing users. Note that browsers like Opera Mini have a direct impact on the telco's data revenues, since they reduce the total data consumption due to its compression. However, this approach will enable them to charge consumers on the basis of time rather than data usage, thereby reducing…
