Telecom Lead Africa: Consolidation among telecom operators helps mobile users. Airtel offers free incoming roaming service in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to its African customers.
Airtel customers already avail this facility across the company’s mobile network in 17 countries across Africa.
Airtel customers in Africa will not need to register for the ONE NETWORK service or buy new SIM cards as they will now be provisioned as citizens of Airtel’s network across 20 countries in Africa and Asia.
This offers opportunities to 60 million Airtel customers in Africa to roam at affordable tariffs in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Free incoming calls during roaming will benefit travelling population. Seamless service across continents is a world-first among mobile service providers, Airtel said.
“Mobile communication has the ability to connect communities. Airtel’s ONE NETWORK now gives our customers the ability to drastically reduce roaming charges whilst travelling within and across the two continents,” Andre Beyers, chief marketing officer, Airtel Africa.
Within 17 African countries, ONE NETWORK allows Airtel customers to use their local Airtel SIM cards while abroad, giving them access to special rates for calls made, access data, enjoy value added services and recharge using local top up vouchers in the country visited.
The service is poised to benefit increasing intra-regional trade between Africa and the South Asian nations which currently stands at over $60 billion.
The countries covered by Airtel One Network Services are: Kenya, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
