Airtel launches calling card services in Canada

Company Press Release:

Airtel launches calling card services in Canada
Enters market with virtual calling card service ‘Airtel CallHome’ to connect over 1.5 Million NRIs to home

‘Airtel CallHome’ the smartest way to call India:

Unmatched call quality – ‘No call drops’ and unmatched clarity on state-of-the-art Airtel network.
Competitive tariffs of 5.9 cents/min – No hidden charges
Inaugural offer of 50% free talk time so the effective rate is 3.9 c/min mobile to mobile
Quick two touch dialing service
Option to sign-up/ top-up calling minutes from India using a Indian credit card. Especially beneficial for students, tourists and business travelers.

New Delhi, October 6, 2008: Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecom services provider today announced the launch of its virtual calling card service ‘Airtel CallHome’ in Canada. The launch follows Airtel’s successful entry into the UK and Singapore markets earlier this year and aims to bring 1.5 million Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and students in Canada closer to their friends and families in India. The service offers superior value to the users including unmatched call quality, extremely competitive call rates, two touch speed dialing, and a host of value added services.

Subscribers in Canda will now be able to call India at 5.9 cents per min on a toll-free access number. Using the service, the subscribers can also call other countries, as per the list available on Airtel CallHome website.

Speaking about the launch, David Nishball, President, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd. said, “We are excited to launch the Airtel CallHome service in Canada after our successful foray in three international markets. With the large NRI population, Canada is a strategic market for us and we see great potential here. According to industry estimates, the total outgoing traffic to India from Canada is around 180 million minutes per month of which 60 million minutes is through calling cards. With our world-class service standards we hope to increase the share of virtual calling cards here and make Airtel the preferred choice for the Indian community to connect with friends and family back in India,” he added.

Canda is the fourth country where the Airtel CallHome service is being launched. It was launched in US in end-2006 and in UK and Singapore in August and September 2008 respectively.

EASE OF USE: Customers need to log on www.airtelcallhome.com, create a personal account and the customer immediately gets a PIN to start calling. This virtual calling service is available 24X7 as per convenience of the customers. Additionally, the online account allows customers to have complete control over their usage, payment history and new promotional scheme at all times.

UNIQUE FEATURES
Two touch speed dial: Unlike physical calling cards where customer has to go through a cumbersome dialing process, dialing via Airtel CallHome is as simple as pressing two buttons. Customers can now register up to 10 telephone numbers for outgoing calls in Canada. Thereafter, they can configure up to 50 numbers in India that they call frequently, and store them as a short code (Easy Dial feature). Once the access number is stored as a “Speed Dial” on the handset – they simply need to press two buttons on the phone to connect with his friends and family in India, instantly and conveniently.

Value added services: Customers can also access other services such as Astro chat and Friends chat. For Astrology Chat, customers will be able to speak to an astrologer back in India at all times and get personalized consultation at just 49 cents per minute. For Friends Chat, customers will be able to make friends at just 39 cents/min.

EASY PAYMENT OPTIONS
Available on the pre paid option only. Payment for pre paid charges will be accepted through a credit card on the web portal through a secure payment gateway. Customers will have the option to top up their calling minutes using an Indian credit card from India as well. Additionally, customers will also be able to access their personal account through toll free access numbers that can be accessed from anywhere in Canada.

About Bharti Airtel Limited:
Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is India’s leading integrated telecom services provider with an aggregate of over 77.24 million customers as of end of August 2008, consisting of 74.77 million mobile customers. Bharti Airtel Limited has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The Telemedia business provides broadband & telephone services in 94 cities and is foraying into the IPTV and DTH segments. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 78,540 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe.