By Technology Times Staff Reporter
Lagos. December 3, 2012: Over 60 million Airtel subscribers in Nigeria and 16 other African countries on the telecoms company’s One Network Service bouquet will enjoy free intercontinental incoming calls on their roaming service in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, three South Asian countries.
The other African countries in Airtel’s One Network service are Kenya, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
Airtel says that it has added India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the service.
Subscribers in the 17 African countries on Airtel’s One Network enjoy these free incoming calls on their roaming service which is now being extended to their travels in the three South Asian countries.
The telecoms company says that indeed, India is the favourite destination for African businessmen, corporate executives, students and medical tourists flying there for trade, its tertiary education and affordable medical facilities respectively.
According to the telecoms company, the service will boost increasing inter-continental trade between Africa and South Asia which currently stands at over $60 billion with increasing numbers of travellers between the two continents.
Within One Network’s African countries, all Airtel customers roaming abroad use the single SIM card bought in their home countries, giving them access to attractive rates for calls, data accessed, value added services enjoyed and they recharge using local top up vouchers in the country visited.
According to the company, Airtel’s African customers on the One Network service do not need to re-register or buy new SIM cards in the three South Asian countries as “they will now be automatically provisioned as ‘citizens’ of Airtel’s borderless network across the 20 countries in Africa and Asia.
Andre Beyers, Chief Marketing Officer, Airtel Africa, commenting on the addition of the three countries to One Network, says that, “mobile communication has the ability to connect communities. Airtel’s One Network now gives our customers the ability to drastically reduce roaming charges while travelling within and across the two continents. Our goal is to provide affordable and relevant mobile communication solutions across borders.”
He adds that by offering free incoming calls to roaming subscribers, the service ups the ante for global mobile service providers as the seamless service across continents is a world-first. The free incoming calls will greatly benefit the travelling population comprising mainly tourists, corporates, businessmen and students who want to keep in touch with people back home.
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