Free roaming comes into effect, Airtel & Idea lead charge

airtel

NEW DELHI: Telecom majors Bharti Airtel andIdea Cellular today announced ‘free’ roaming packs, paving the way for cheaper roaming across India. Other operators are expected to follow suit soon.

The country’s biggest telecom company, Airtel on Monday became the first to announce “free incoming calls” on roaming at a charge of Rs 5 per day. Airtel subscribers can also opt for the one-time pack of Rs 79, which provides free incoming calls on roaming for 30 days.

However, these offers have been doled out to prepaid customers only and there is no word about the same being extended to postpaid users as of now.

Airtel’s offer was followed by a similar announcement later in the day by Idea Cellular. The Birla-promoted company is launching two new prepaid vouchers to offer ‘free roaming’ to its over 123 million subscribers in all 22 circles, without incurring any further charge.

According to Idea, the company will issue two vouchers priced between Rs 230-240, and another priced between Rs 35-40 (denomination to vary across circles), using which a subscriber can get the same rates for local, STD, ISD calling and SMS, as those paid in the home circle.

The incoming roaming charges will be 75 paise per minute for users who avail the Rs 35-40 voucher, whereas incoming is absolutely free for those who avail Rs 230-240 voucher of Idea. Idea users who recharge with the new vouchers will be able to enjoy the roaming benefits for 6 months from the date of recharge….

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