Airtel, Idea launch 'free roaming' packs in India

Two GSM operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have announced free roaming packs in India.

Airtel became the first to announce free incoming calls on roaming at a charge of Rs 5 per day. According to reports, subscribers can also opt for the one-time pack of Rs 79, which provides free incoming calls on roaming for 30 days.

Idea Cellular has also launched two new vouchers offering free roaming services. The new vouchers - priced between Rs 230-240 and Rs 35-40 (varying from circle to circle) - offer the same rates for local, STD, ISD and SMS the user pays in the home circle, reported The Hindu.

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Times of India reported, 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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However, both these free roaming offers have been doled out to prepaid customers only and there is no word about the same being offered to postpaid users as of now.

This order comes into effect from July 1.

On June 17,Traihad announced that telecom operators can allow free national roaming if users pay a fixed fee. However, Trai has also said that completely free national roaming, as envisioned by telecom ministerKapil Sibal, is not practical.

With Airtel and Idea taking the lead in rolling out their free roaming offers, will other major operators Vodafone and Reliance Communications follow suit?