Airtel's New International Roaming Packs Offer Free Incoming Calls, Data

Airtel on Tuesday launched new international packs dubbed Smart Packs for its subscribers. The company claimed that the new packs will save the user from hassle of carrying an additional SIM card on international trips. Under the new Smart Packs, Airtel users will get free incoming calls as well as data while using international roaming in select countries.

"Airtel Smart Packs offer free incoming calls and provide up to 200 percent more data benefits than competing packs, so that customer are always connected without having to worry about bill shocks," the company said in an emailed statement.

Airtel says that the Smart Packs can be activated via the company's website or myAirtel app, as well as customer care. The company stresses that customers can activate the Smart Packs at any time but will need to pay only when they actually use them.

The Smart Pack is available for select countries including Singapore, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, and the US. The Smart Pack will offer free incoming calls and up to 3GB free data (up to 1GB free data in case of Thailand) when travelling to these countries.

Airtel's Smart Packs are available at Rs. 2,499 for travellers going to Singapore and Thailand in which they will get 299 free minutes of calling to India, SMS charges (local and to India) at Rs. 10; outgoing local or to India at Rs. 10 per minute, and data post pack at Rs. 10 per MB. Smart Packs for the UK and the US are priced at Rs. 4,999 and will offer 399 free minutes of calling to India; SMS charges (local and to India) at Rs. 10; outgoing call (local and to India) at Rs. 10 per minute, and data post pack at Rs. 10 per MB. The Smart Pack for UAE has been priced at Rs. 3,999 and will offer up to 100 minutes free incoming calls; 399 free minutes to India. Rest of the SMS charges, outgoing, and data charges post pack are same as other Smart Packs. The validity of all the Smart Packs are 30 days.

Announcing the new Smart Packs, Srinivasan Gopalan, Director, Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel India and South Asia said, "At Airtel, our constant endeavour is to bring better value and convenience to our customers through innovative product solutions. Our research has shown that when it comes to international roaming, the customer is looking for the convenience of carrying the same number without having to worry about billing shocks. Our new international roaming Smart Packs are aimed addressing this need gap and set a new industry benchmark."