Airtel will now change per second basis to all its Prepaid Customers Nationwide

Airtel has announced that it will start moving all its prepaid mobile customers nationally to per second billing plan starting from today. This will be more affordable compared to per minute plan and ensure that customers pay only for the time they use, says the company. The new plan will be rolled out under new Pay For What You Use initiative.

Most of the Airtel prepaid mobile customers are already on the per second billing plan, but the company aims to ensure that all the prepaid customers are moved to per second plan. Even though customer’s standard base rate plans are shifted to a pulse rate of per second, they can opt for additional tariff discount packs of their choice for discounted per sec or per minute benefits.

Commenting on the new initiative, Ajai Puri, Director – Market Operations, Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) said:

Our customers are the reason for us to be in business, we therefore constantly introduce innovative initiatives with a commitment to deliver a world class experience to them. While we continue to invest aggressively in our network quality and deploy new sites to further enhance our robust & wide network presence, as yet another token measure of our commitment we are today taking the lead to move our customers to the affordable per second plans ensuring that they pay only for what they use.

Airtel launches 4G Services Pan India in 296 towns

After rolling out 4G trials in many cities, Airtel has just commercially launched its 4G services in 296 towns across India. This makes it the first company to make the fast new 4G services available to the public.

Airtel is giving away free 4G SIM cards to all compatible users, and promises to provide SIM cards within four hours at the users’ doorstep. To request for a free 4G SIM card, head over here http://www.airtel.in/4g/ get your free 4G SIM. Delivered at your door step for free here

The company is offering its 4G services at very low rates starting at Rs 25. Additionally, Airtel is offering six months of unlimited music streaming and downloads on ‘Wynk Music’ and five free movies per month for six months on the Eros Now channel of ‘Wynk Movies’.

It has also introduced the new Infinity Plan that starts at Rs 999. This plan offers unlimited voice calls on mobile, along with data benefits. It has also entered into alliance with Samsung and Flipkart to promote its new 4G service.

Airtel has launched a dedicated website, where users can check if their number is eligible for a 4G upgrade, and whether they can request for a free 4G SIM card or not. The company has also introduced 4G dongles, and home Wi-Fi modems starting at Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,500 respectively.

The company has just released an ad which boasts of really fast speed with Airtel 4G, while also claiming that a full movie can be downloaded in just three minutes.

Watch the ad below:

Airtel and Vodafone To offer Full MNP from July 3

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) extended the deadline to implement the full mobile number portability (MNP) across the India  till July, 2015. Today, Vodafone and Airtel have announced that they will launch National Mobile Number Portability (NMNP) from July 3rd. Nationwide MNP allows subscribers retain their numbers even if they move to another state, irrespective of the service provider. It is applicable for both pre-paid and post-paid customers.

Airtel also introduced faster processing of porting requests within 24 hours and free incoming on roaming once they raise a number portability request until it is processed. Airtel customers can also avail the option of transferring their balance in prepaid or carrying forward their unbilled/billed amount in the case of postpaid while porting their number to the new city, said the company.

Ajai Puri, Director – Market Operations, AIrtel said:

Today, not only has mobile phone become an essential part of our lives, the mobile number has equally become an indispensable identification for each one of us. With our complete readiness to launch National Mobile Number Portability, we aim to empower customers enabling them to retain this identity as they move across anywhere in the country. To facilitate a seamless transition we will also allow our customers to enjoy free incoming on roaming while their number portability request is being processed.

Commenting about the initiative, Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India said:

Customers will be the biggest gainers of the National MNP service as it allows them to carry their existing number across India and also choose the operator of their choice. Vodafone has benefited from the intra-circle MNP that was rolled out in 2011 and we look forward to a similar response this time.

Airtel users can visit any Airtel outlet and follow the procedure. The can also call 1800-103-111 for more details. Airtel said that it is not available for customers shifting to J&K, Assam and North East owing to security reasons. Vodafone users can visit any Vodafone Store/outlet to request for NMNP, Generate a 8 digit UPC code by sending a SMS ‘Port ’ to 1900, Fill up the CAF and porting-in form, submit relevant documents and choose your tariff plan

Airtel is now World’s third largest Mobile Operator with over 303 million Customers

Airtel has announced that it has become third largest mobile operator in the world in terms on subscribers, based on the latest ranking from World Cellular Information Service (WCIS). China Mobile is the top mobile operator in the world with over 626 million customers followed by Vodafone Group with over 403 million customers.

Last year Airtel crossed 200 million mobile subscriber mark in India and also reached 300 million customers across its operations globally that includes, mobile, fixed line & DSL, and DTH services. Today the company said that it has largest rural mobile customer base in India with over 100 million mobile customers.

Airtel covers over 1.85 billion people across its operations in 20 countries and carried over 1.23 trillion minutes of calls and over 333 petabytes of data in FY 2014-15. Airtel offers 4G services in over 30 cities in India using TD- LTE & FDD-LTE technology. The company plans to launch FDD‐LTE services on 1800 MHz in 6 circles in India.

Top Five Global Mobile Operators by Customers

Regarding the new milestone, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel, said:

This is a major landmark in the journey of Airtel and underlines the strength of our business model and our brand that is loved by customers across 20 countries. Today, we seamlessly manage global scale operations in diverse geographies and deliver the same world-class services to each customers, this perhaps is one of our biggest achievements. I want to thank our employees and our business partners for supporting us through this exciting journey and with the mobile internet play about to happen in the developing world, things will only get brighter from here on.

I am also proud of the fact that we have built one of the biggest consumer brands in the world out of India. It would not have been possible without the progressive policies of the Government of India and the TRAI. I take this opportunity to assure them that we are fully committed to their vision of Digital India and empowering every Indian.

Airtel,Vodafone,idea and RCom reduced roaming Call rates upto 75%

Telecom operators Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and RCom have reduced calling rates up to 75 percent on national roaming from May 1, after regulator TRAI cut ceiling tariffs. India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel has slashed outgoing local SMS cheaper by 75 percent. The inter circle call rates have been reduced up to 23 per cent and outgoing local call tariff up to 20 per cent, while incoming call rates have been reduced up to 40 per cent.

Vodafone India customers will now pay 25 paise per local SMS from Re 1 for local texting and for STD texts 38 paise from Rs 1.50 earlier. The carrier has also reduced the incoming call rates to 45 paise per minute for incoming calls; while outgoing local and STD calls will be charged at 80 paise and Rs 1.15 paise per minute from Rs 1 and Rs 1.50 earlier, in accordance with TRAI regulations. Apart from this, Vodafone has also introduced special roaming tariff plans for its prepaid and postpaid customers.

Idea Cellular, which is the third biggest telecom operator in India will now charge 25 paise for a local SMS and 38 paise for texting while roaming nationally. The operator has reduced incoming calls rate to 45p/min, while outgoing local call rates have been slashed by 20 per cent and STD call rates by 23 per cent.

Telecom Regulatory Authority India (TRAI) earlier this month had slashed the maximum or ceiling rate that a telecom operator can charge for STD calls on roaming to Rs 1.15 per minute from Rs 1.50, while on national roaming a telecom operator can charge Rs 1.15 per minute from Rs 1.50 for STD calls on roaming. Operators can now charge a maximum of 25 paise only for a local SMS instead of the current Re 1 per SMS. Similarly, the national SMS rate has been reduced from Rs 1.5 per SMS to 38 paise now.

The new charges will benefit the customer, but will hurt the profit margins of telecom operators who spent nearly Rs.1.1 trillion in the spectrum auction that concluded in March this year. TRAI has stated that the rate changes will be applicable from May 1 across India, and will be reviewed again next year.