Airtel reduces data charges for international roaming by 99%

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday launched international roaming (IR) packs offering free incoming calls, free calling minutes and texts to India to customers travelling abroad. The roaming packs also come bundled with data.

Airtel said the data rates during international roaming have effectively been reduced by 99 per cent as it will now be charging Rs 3/MB from Rs 650/MB earlier.

The roaming packs, which are available for all popular global destinations, come with validity of one day and 30 days. The one-day pack is designed for short/quick international trips and for Rs 649 (about $10), customers will get free incoming calls, free texts to India and 100 free minutes to India and 300 MB of data. Post the exhaustion of pack benefits, data will be charged at Rs 3 per MB, calls to India at Rs 3/minute and local outgoing calls at Rs 3/minute.

The 30 days pack offers connectivity through long duration trips for Rs 4999 (appx. $75) and is loaded with data and India calling benefits. Apart from free incoming calls and texts, the pack is offering 3 GB of data, 400 free minutes to India. The post pack rates are similar to one-day pack.

Airtel said with the holiday season around the corner, it plans to launch a $45 medium duration pack with 10 days validity by middle of October 2016.

“The number of Indians traveling overseas for leisure and business is growing rapidly and our new IR packs ensure that customers get no bill shocks and have the convenience of always keeping their phones switched on, wherever they are,” Ajai Puri, Director – Operations (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said.