Bharti Airtel, Idea launch new roaming plans for subscribers

After the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reduced the ceiling on national roaming charges in India, network operators like Airtel and Idea Cellular have introduced new roaming packages which include free incoming calls.

The Airtel plan includes a Rs 5 plan for pre-paid users which offers free incoming national roaming for a day, but outgoing calls will cost the same as before. The other plan which is for Rs 79 will let customers receive incoming calls on roaming for one month, without being charged extra. All outgoing calls will be charged at 1.5 paisa per second in this plan.

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Idea Cellular is also offering reduced tariff on roaming. The operator has launched a voucher of Rs 230 or Rs 240 with a validity of 6 months which will let subscribers make local, STD and ISD calls at the same rate on roaming as the rates in their home state/circle. Another voucher scheme priced at Rs 35/40 (priced according to different states) allows users to receive calls for 75 paisa per minute on roaming.

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Will Vodafone, Reliance and other major subscribers follow suit soon and lower charges on national roaming? That remains to be seen.