IDEA nationwide talent hunt kicks Off in Pune
India's first ever football clinic resulting into a Nationwide Talent Hunt
was kicked off today at Poona Club. An initiative to promote talent in
sport from IDEA Cellular Ltd., a leading cellular operator of the country
& Soccernova was inaugurated by Mr. Tony Ricketts, FIFA 'A' coach from
Bristol Academy of Sports, UK and Mr. Bruno Coutinho, Ex-Captain, Indian
Football Team. It will culminate into ten-day Soccer Clinic at Poona Club
commencing from 8th November to 17th November 2004. The Clinic is
witnessing an enthusiastic participation by the youngsters from across the
country.
Commenting on the first ever Talent Hunt for Soccer in India, Mr. Lakshmi
Narayan, Head of Maharashtra & Goa Circle, IDEA Cellular Ltd., said, "The
IDEA Nationwide Talent Hunt is yet another attempt in the direction of
tapping hidden talent, and presenting talented youngsters of the country
this unique opportunity to prove their mettle in the international arena.
By organizing sporting events of this magnitude we also seek to promote
Pune as a sports destination".
Mr. Tony Ricketts from Bristol Academy of Sports, UK, said, "Indian
football has the potential to compete in all major international
tournaments. With the right kind of impetus from the corporate sector and
sport lovers it can be promoted and nurtured.
The team of specialist coaches coming from Bristol UK include Tony
Ricketts, Stephen Bristow, Gary Green, Mark Hervin, Paul Methringham and
Matt Allen.
Two Elite winners of the TALENTHUNT will be awarded a 1-year scholarship
to pursue advanced training & further education at The Bristol Academy of
Sport & Filton College in England. The scholarship includes tuition fees,
academy fees, coaching, medical expenses and training kit. Also, the
select 11 winners of the TALENTHUNT will be awarded a 15-day training camp
at The Bristol Academy of Sport, England. This training camp will include
accommodation, food & training expenses.
IDEA is a leading cellular operator in the country, with a subscriber base
of over 4.3 million across the country. The latest ad campaign using SUMOs
for the first time in this category is also promoting many interesting
prepaid features such as Eco Talk, Talk India and Flexi Charge etc. With
the acquisition of Escotel, IDEA Cellular has enhanced its footprint to
cover around 60% of India's population and over 65% of the potential
telecom-market. With the completion of this acquisition, the Escotel
circles of UP (West), Haryana and Kerala have become the operating units
of IDEA Cellular with immediate effect. The recently acquired Escotel
circles except Kerala are contiguous to the 5 circles of IDEA. IDEA now
has presence in 11 circles across the country.
IDEA was the first and only company to bring the concept of Cellular
Jockey and offer Music Messaging to all its subscribers. IDEA also
launched Global SMS for the first time in the country, which allows the
users to send and receive SMS from over 540 networks and 170 countries
across the technology platforms like GSM, CDMA, TDMA and Satellite Phones.
Recently, IDEA tied up with NDTV to present live news by dialing 6388.
IDEA also recently launched "Say IDEA" feature that allows the users to
access value added services by speaking into their mobiles and Ganesha
Speaks by Bejan Daruwalla a LIVE astrology service that can be accessed by
dialing 181.
IDEA Cellular Ltd. has its headquarters in Pune. IDEA's financial closure
with a project cost of Rs. 5,000 crore was the largest ever in the Indian
telecom history. IDEA has the distinction of being the first and only
company to demonstrate and commercially launch the next generation EDGE
technology (a 3G technology) for its Delhi circle recently.
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