Bharti Airtel, launched "virtual calling card" 3.5 pence per minute for NRIs in UK

London, Aug 17, 2008
Lashman Singh

Bharti Airtel, India has launched a "virtual calling card service" in the United Kingdom for 1.6 million NRIs to call India:

• At a lowest rate of just 3.5 pence a minute through toll access and 4.5 pence per minute through toll free access.
• Subscribers will also get 50 per cent extra talk time over and above what is purchased, bringing effective call rates down to 2.3 pence per minute
• These rates will remain constant irrespective of who the service provider is.
• 25 minutes of free talk time trial to all subscribers to experience the service quality.
• 100 minutes of free talk-time for every successful referral under its the scheme, Refer-a-Friend.

David Nishball, president of Enterprise Services, said, "Our aim is to serve this Indian community better by changing the rules of the game and delivering a greater value for money service with superior call quality and world class service standards. The UK has one of the largest NRI populations in the world."

Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Airtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under the brand name Airtel:

• Mobile Services (using GSM Technology),
• Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line),
• Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates).
• It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current population

Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest Telecom Business operator with more than 75 million subscribers as of August 2008. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station.

Sunil Bharti Mittal- Chairman & Managing Director Bharti Airtel Ltd