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Ahead of the holiday season, Idea Cellular has slashed voice tariffs by up to 80 per cent and that of data by 95 per cent compared with standard roaming rates. The reduction in tariffs is effective under international roaming packs and is rolled out for post-paid subscribers, the company said in a statement.
Two packs The GSM operator has launched two new international roaming packs — priced at Rs 599 and Rs 1,499 – that can be used across 40 countries, including the US, Singapore, the UK, China, Germany and France among others.
“The peak holiday season is about to start and there is a huge outbound traffic from India during this period,” said Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer at Idea Cellular. The Rs 599 pack comes with a 10-day validity and the Rs 1,499 pack with 30 days validity. The Rs 1,499 pack also offers 30 minutes of free incoming calls while on international roaming.
In November, the company slashed 2G data tariffs by 90 per cent across all its circles to further increase mobile broadband in India. Similarly, the country’s third largest operator has also reduced 3G data charges by 33 per cent. Even though the move follows a sling of similar initiatives by other service providers, the industry had rules out a tariff war.
The Aditya Birla group company has also won a $1-million grant from the US Trade & Development Agency (USTDA). The grant would be used for funding a green telecom pilot project, which involves deployment of Solar Hybrid Methanol-Based Fuel Cell (SHMBFC) at telecom sites, in India.
The project aims to assist Idea Cellular’s effort to replace stationary diesel engines with SHMBFC technology at five telecom tower sites using 2.5 and 5.0 kilowatt fuel cell units.
The company will be supported by ICF International, which will undertake a feasibility study. The pilot project will assess the technical, economic and financial feasibility of deploying fuel cells that provide continuous and uninterruptible power to off-grid telecom towers.
“The grant offered by the USTDA will further spur our efforts towards reducing carbon emissions from telecom infrastructure in the country,” said Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director at Idea Cellular.
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