Bharti Airtel expands global footprint with online call services in the US

Our Corporate Bureau
07 December 2006

Leading private sector telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd today launched its Airtel CallHome online services for non-resident Indians in the US.

This foray into the US markets enables the $3.8 billion company to extend its global footprint; it already has operations through local subsidiaries in Seychelles (where it added 3G services last December to its portfolio of services since 1998), and the Channel Islands. Besides it is vying with Reliance Communications for an entry into Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Says Manoj Kohli, president, Bharti Airtel, " 'Geography is history', as they say. We are glad to be causing this paradigm shift. We have over 2.5 million Non Resident Indians in the United States who make over 450 million minutes of calls a month to India. We Indians are very expressive and emotional and love to connect with our near and dear ones. It makes me immensely happy that Airtel will dissolve geographical boundaries and help people connect to their friends and family back here in India."

Airtel has targeted the Indian community in the US with rates as low as 7.9 cents a minute. All they need to do is go to the Airtel website, create a personal account and download the calling service online.

Available initially on pre-paid option, the payments for pre-paid recharges will be accepted through the credit card on web portal through a secure payment gateway.

Compared to the other options available in the market, this service comes at a significant 40 per cent less in terms of pricing. A major advantage of this service is also the simplicity it offers owing to the uniform rate of calling whether it is to any Airtel mobile or landline or any other mobile phone or landline.