Bharti Airtel launches Airtel CallHome card in the UK

Bharti Airtel has launched a virtual calling card service in the United Kingdom, targeted at 1.6 million non resident Indians in the UK, who call India frequently.

Called Airtel CallHome, the card is priced very economically at just 3.5 pence a minute through toll access and 4.5 pence per minute through toll free access.

The extra talk time over and above what is purchased will be charged at the same rate, thereby bringing its effective call rates down to 2.3 pence per minute
Bharti said that these rates will remain constant irrespective of who the service provider is.

"The UK has one of the largest NRI populations in the world," said David Nishball, president of Enterprise Services, at the launch "Our aim is to serve this Indian community better by changing the rules of the game and delivering a greater value for money service with superior call quality and world class service standards''.

As a part of its marketing strategy to expand its subscriber base, the telecom firm is giving subscribers free trial talk-time of 25 minutes, 50 per cent extra talk-time over and above whatever talk time is purchased and 100 minutes of free talk-time for every successful referral under its the scheme, Refer-a-Friend.

The calling card has been launched through the enterprise services unit of Bahrti, which  virtual calling card services in the overseas markets.

The group's Channel Islands-based subsidiary, Jersey Airtel, offers mobile services in the islands over its full 2G, 3G and HSDPA enhanced network. It also provides services to its customers under Airtel-Vodafone brand.

Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, is a part of Bharti Enterprise Limited.