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Vodafone announces free national roaming to counter Jio threat

Vodafone is now offering free incoming calls while roaming nationally!

Threatened by Reliance Jio’s lifetime free voice calling offer, one of the country’s leading mobile network providers, Vodafone on Friday announced free incoming calls while roaming nationally for all its customers from Diwali.

“As part of our ongoing 200 million customer celebration, providing free incoming on national roaming will ensure that our customers do not think twice while travelling out of town,” Vodafone India, Director – Commercial, Sandeep Kataria said in a statement, PTI reported.

Starting Diwali, all Vodafone users in the country will be able to talk freely even when they are travelling across the state borders.

Kataria further said that even though the outgoing charges while roaming had become comparable to the home charges, their research showed that charges for incoming calls during roaming proved to be a hindrance to ‘worry-free’ usage, PTI added.

Earlier today, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in a major relief for Reliance Jio gave a green signal to the company’s lifetime free voice all offer. The regulatory body in a letter to the telecom operators in the country said that the tariff plans offered by Jio were not predatory and discriminatory to the present rules in the country.

Meanwhile, newbie Reliance Jio is proving to be a tough competitor to telecom veterans like Airtel and Vodafone, that derive a large chunk of their profits from data-packs and voice calls.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman, Mukesh Ambani launched one of India’s most ambitious mobile networks- Reliance Jio, in September this year. Reliance Jio offers data plans ranging between Rs 149 to Rs 4,999 as a part of its welcome offer. Furthermore, while 1GB mobile data costs just Rs 50, Jio has special plans for students and young entrepreneurs too.