International roaming facility option from RPG Cellular

Chennai: With competition hotting up, RPG Cellular, a mobile telephony player in Chennai, has started offering uninterrupted roaming facility to its subscribers using satellite network.

The company has tied up with Aces, a satellite network provider based in Indonesia, for this purpose. RPG Cellular is the only service provider in Chennai to offer this facility.

According to T G Suresh Babu, chief manager (marketing), RPG Cellular subscribers can use their mobile phones in areas where there is no GSM (global system for mobile communications) coverage, say on the high seas, top of a hill or in certain cities. "Even in countries where the code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile technology prevails, our subscribers can stay connected."

To avail of this service a subscriber has to buy a different handset (R190 from Ericsson), which costs around Rs 35,000. The call charge will be 85 cents per minute across the countries.

Currently, one can experience the satellite coverage in India, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Mangolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Japan, Kazakhstan, East Timor, Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Krygystan, Laos, Myanmar, Korea, Pakistan, Papua Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.