Airtel announces free limited roaming scheme for Delhi prepaid users
Airtel's prepaid subscribers of Delhi can enjoy free incoming in five states with a recharge of Rs. 21.
Bharti Airtel has announced a new scheme under which prepaid subscribers of Delhi can enjoy free incoming calls in as many as five states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and West Bengal (except Kolkata).
According to Airtel, customers can now get up to 30 days of free incoming calls in the above-mentioned states on a recharge of Rs. 21. Currently, Airtel’s Delhi subscribers are charged Re. 1 for incoming calls, Re. 1 for local outgoing calls and Rs. 1.5 for STD when on roaming.
With roaming charges are expected to be abolished by end of this year, the telecom operators are looking to woo customers with ‘free or discounted roaming’ plans in the meantime.
Recently, Aircel announced a new tariff plan called the ‘One Nation, One Rate’ plan, under which subscribers pay 1p per second for both STD and local calls in their home circles, as well as on roaming. For local and STD SMSes, the operator will charge Re. 1. Incoming will be free. Aircel’s One Nation, One Rate plan is available for Rs. 39 in Delhi with validity of 30 days.
As per the National Telecom Policy 2012, roaming charges has to be abolished. The implementation of the free roaming facility was expected to begin March this year, however, it has been delayed till October 2013.
Telecom operators have opposed free roaming as they fear a loss of about Rs. 13,500 crore in revenues. Industry experts, however, believe operators can recover by adjusting other tariffs.
“At a commercial level, high roaming charges can often be blamed on competitors. Operators may be reluctant to increase tariffs in competitive markets. Indeed, theoretically speaking, high roaming charges can help you cross-subsidize tariffs in some other more competitive segment,” says Mahesh Uppal, a Delhi-based telecom consultant.
Source: NDTV