Bharti Airtel announced the removal of all roaming charges for outgoing and incoming calls as well as SMSs and data usage within India as it takes on competition from new comer Reliance Jio.

India&#39;s largest mobile phone service provider also said international call rates will be cut by up to 90 per cent to as low as Rs 3 per minute and data charges by up to 99 per cent to Rs 3 per MB across popular roaming destinations.

Starting April 1, Airtel customers roaming within India will enjoy free incoming calls and SMSs and there will be no premium on outgoing calls, allowing them to speak freely wherever they are within the country.

Also, there will be no additional data charges on national roaming. Home data packs for customers will apply even while they roam across India.

Also, it said, there will be no bill shocks while roaming overseas. Daily billing will be automatically adjusted to the price of basic one day pack even for customers who don&#39;t buy a roaming pack.

&quot;With this, Airtel mobile customers will be able to carry their numbers across India and the world and stay connected all the time without having to worry about high call/data charges,&quot; a press note from Aitel said. &quot;Bill shocks will now be a thing of the past.&quot;

Gopal Vittal, MD &amp; CEO (India &amp; South Asia), Bharti Airtel said: &quot;This marks the death of national roaming and the whole country will now be like a local network for our customers, who will not have to think twice before making or receiving calls or using data while travelling outside their home base. Airtel has again set the benchmark in delivering best in class value backed by a great network experience.&quot;

For international roaming, Airtel said it has already launched innovative and affordable International Roaming packs for all major countries across the world.

These packs come with convenient validity options of 1 day, 10 days, and 30 days.

Even post the exhaustion of pack benefits, customers will continue to enjoy extremely attractive rates for calling and data usage.

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said: &quot;At Airtel, we are changing the international roaming paradigm, which will allow our customers to take their number to every corner of the world. As an industry, operators across the world must collaborate to remove the cost barrier to roaming and offer customers the convenience of staying connected without the fear of exorbitant bill charges.&quot;

(PTI)

Airtel says international call rates will also be cut by up to 90 per cent

Bharti Airtel announced the removal of all roaming charges for outgoing and incoming calls as well as SMSs and data usage within India as it takes on competition from new comer Reliance Jio. India's largest mobile phone service provider also said international call rates will be cut by up to 90 per cent to as low as Rs 3 per minute and data charges by up to 99 per cent to Rs 3 per MB across popular roaming destinations. Starting April 1, Airtel customers roaming within India will enjoy free incoming calls and SMSs and there will be no premium on outgoing calls, allowing them to speak freely wherever they are within the country. Also, there will be no additional data charges on national roaming. Home data packs for customers will apply even while they roam across India. Also, it said, there will be no bill shocks while roaming overseas. Daily billing will be automatically adjusted to the price of basic one day pack even for customers who don't buy a roaming pack. "With this, Airtel mobile customers will be able to carry their numbers across India and the world and stay connected all the time without having to worry about high call/data charges," a press note from Aitel said. "Bill shocks will now be a thing of the past." Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said: "This marks the death of national roaming and the whole country will now be like a local network for our customers, who will not have to think twice before making or receiving calls or using data while travelling outside their home base. Airtel has again set the benchmark in delivering best in class value backed by a great network experience." For international roaming, Airtel said it has already launched innovative and affordable International Roaming packs for all major countries across the world. These packs come with convenient validity options of 1 day, 10 days, and 30 days. Even post the exhaustion of pack benefits, customers will continue to enjoy extremely attractive rates for calling and data usage. Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said: "At Airtel, we are changing the international roaming paradigm, which will allow our customers to take their number to every corner of the world. As an industry, operators across the world must collaborate to remove the cost barrier to roaming and offer customers the convenience of staying connected without the fear of exorbitant bill charges." (PTI)

Airtel ends roaming charges on calls and data to take on Reliance Jio

Global telecom giant Vodafone said it is in discussion to merge its India mobile business with Aditya Birla group&#39;s Idea Cellular - a move that would create the largest telecom entity to take on rivals such as Airtel and Reliance Jio.

&quot;Vodafone confirms that it is in discussions with the Aditya Birla group about an all-share merger of Vodafone India (excluding Vodafone&#39;s 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers) and Idea,&quot; Vodafone said in a statement.

Any merger will be effected through issuance of new shares in Idea to Vodafone and would result in de-consolidation of Vodafone India, it added.

A Vodafone-Idea combined entity would have 43 per cent revenue market share as against the 33 per cent of Bharti Airtel currently and 13 per cent for Reliance Jio by 2018-19, a CLSA report had said.

Vodafone did not share the details of the potential deal, saying, &quot;there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed, nor as to the terms or timing of any transaction&quot;.

While Bharti Airtel is the largest telecom operator in India with 263.35 million mobile subscribers, Vodafone has 202.79 million users and Idea Cellular 187.68 million.

With 32.84 per cent, Bharti Airtel has the maximum market share, but the combined entity of Vodafone India and Idea will command 43 per cent, say analysts.

&quot;Our analysis of a potential merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular reveals that such a mega deal would change the industry order,&quot; CLSA had said.

(PTI)

The idea behind this merger is to take on rivals such as Airtel and Reliance Jio

Global telecom giant Vodafone said it is in discussion to merge its India mobile business with Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular - a move that would create the largest telecom entity to take on rivals such as Airtel and Reliance Jio. "Vodafone confirms that it is in discussions with the Aditya Birla group about an all-share merger of Vodafone India (excluding Vodafone's 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers) and Idea," Vodafone said in a statement. Any merger will be effected through issuance of new shares in Idea to Vodafone and would result in de-consolidation of Vodafone India, it added. A Vodafone-Idea combined entity would have 43 per cent revenue market share as against the 33 per cent of Bharti Airtel currently and 13 per cent for Reliance Jio by 2018-19, a CLSA report had said. Vodafone did not share the details of the potential deal, saying, "there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed, nor as to the terms or timing of any transaction". While Bharti Airtel is the largest telecom operator in India with 263.35 million mobile subscribers, Vodafone has 202.79 million users and Idea Cellular 187.68 million. With 32.84 per cent, Bharti Airtel has the maximum market share, but the combined entity of Vodafone India and Idea will command 43 per cent, say analysts. "Our analysis of a potential merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular reveals that such a mega deal would change the industry order," CLSA had said. (PTI)

Vodafone in merger talks with Idea Cellular in India

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