India’s third-largest mobile operator Idea Cellular and Opera Software on Wednesday announced the launch of Idea Web Pass, which can be purchased from within the Opera Mini browser. This web pass will allow users to enjoy customized mobile internet packages when using the Opera Mini web browser.

Subscribers just need to start the Opera Mini web browser on their mobile phones, click “Idea Web Pass” on the Speed Dial page and choose from a list of web pass subscriptions. This allows Idea mobile customers to choose from a range of internet packages to suit their personal internet-access needs.

Idea Web Pass is an easy and convenient way to purchase an internet-access package. The web pass options are available on a prepaid basis, as well as on a postpaid one for mobile users on the Idea network.

“At Opera, we work towards connecting the world, and we believe that the web is for everyone. We trust that this partnership with Idea Cellular will help us to reach out to first-time users who have not been exposed to the web”, says Sunil Kamath, Vice President for South Asia, Opera Software. “We have observed an increase in the usage of mobile internet in this country, which will only continue to grow, inline with the expansion of 3G usage in more cities. Idea Web Pass will entice more users to get online and serve as a catalyst to boost mobile internet usage”.

“Idea has consistently focused on growing data penetration across the country; we understand that a lot of Idea users choose to access a few preferred sites rather than buying full data plans. Our partnership with Opera for the web pass will help us to reach out to those users and provide them with a convenient data-plan option. We believe that more and more internet users accessing web via mobile phones will usher in a new wave of mobile-data growth in the country”, says Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular.

All Idea users can subscribe to these offers for their daily internet dose. They can download Opera Mini from any of the popular app stores or by visiting m.opera.comfrom their mobile devices. Once Opera Mini is installed, they just need to click the “Idea Web Pass” Speed Dial entry to select the data package that’s right for them.