Idea Cellular has launched a special international Roaming offer, under which its postpaid subscribers can avail a flat 25 per cent discount on their mobile phone usage while traveling in 12 countries including UAE, USA, Singapore, UK, Thailand, China, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Italy.

Starting April 15th, the offer is valid for three months till July 14th 2011.

The roaming rates are applicable for incoming calls, outgoing calls, SMS and GPRS.

Speaking about the new offer, Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular said, “The summer season witnesses a sharp rise in the outbound traffic from India as people go on leisure holidays or to spend time with their friends and families living abroad or travel for business needs. Majority of Indian travellers go to Europe, US, UAE and the Asian countries. For all such travellers, we have created a special discounted International Roaming Offer which will make their stay more affordable and convenient. I am confident that the new offer will boost our international roaming usage during the season.”

In addition to the discounted tariffs, Idea subscribers are also eligible for a Cleartrip voucher worth Rs 4,000 that can be redeemed while booking airline tickets and hotel stay through the Cleartrip website. This travel voucher offers Rs 2,000 off on international hotel bookings, Rs 1,500 on international round trip flights, and Rs 500 on domestic round trip flights.

To avail the voucher, Idea post-paid subscribers need to SMS ‘ACT CLT’ to 12345, in return of which they will get a voucher code. This voucher code can facilitate a subscriber to redeem the discounts while booking flights and hotels through ‘Cleartrip’.

Details of network provider and terms and conditions can be accessed from www.ideacellular.com

Tata Indicom has joined hands with Handygo.com to provide new value added services targeted specially at its rural customers. With the use of these services, Tata Indicom mobile phone users in rural areas can get specialised information on topics like health, education, finance, weather information, mandi rates, livestock, agriculture and fisheries over the IVR (Interactive Voice Response).

Users can get expert answers to specific queries and if the response is not readily available they can also get their query recorded on the IVR to which they will be provided an answer later.

To access this service Tata Indicom customers need to dial the toll free number 556780 and they will be automatically guided through the whole process.

Subscribers can avail this service in the form of subscription pack for which they will be charged Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20 per month which will get them 50, 100, 200 minutes worth of talktime for 7, 15, 30 days respectively.

“We envisage great potential in the untapped rural market and are encouraged about the positive feedback from the end consumers. We have partnered with various large associations for ensuring the latest and authentic information for our CSPs subscribers. Our IVR based rural product is available in all regional languages along with Hindi and English,” said Praveen Rajpal, chief executive officer of Handygo Technologies.

Handygo.com, the content provider for this VAS service, has tie ups with various government and non government organisations such as Care India, Aviva Life Insurance, Indian Metrological Department, INCOIS, Hariyali Kisan Bazaar, Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing, Transparency International India, Sonalika and EKO India Financial Services for getting specialised and reliable information in the various verticals for which this service is available.

Alongside the launch of this new VAS service, Tata Indicom as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative has also employed 50 blind people in association with the National Association of the Blind, Mumbai and the Blind Relief Association in Delhi who have specifically been chosen to make calls for the product Behtar Zindagi VAS services.

This is not the first time such a service has been launched by any Indian telecom service provider. In the past, Idea Cellular, Reliance telecom and Uninor (Unitech Wireless) have also launched similar services for their rural customers.

Idea Cellular has launched a special international Roaming offer, under which its postpaid subscribers can avail a flat 25 per cent discount on their mobile phone usage while traveling in 12 countries including UAE, USA, Singapore, UK, Thailand, China, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Italy.

Starting April 15th, the offer is valid for three months till July 14th 2011.

The roaming rates are applicable for incoming calls, outgoing calls, SMS and GPRS.

Speaking about the new offer, Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular said, “The summer season witnesses a sharp rise in the outbound traffic from India as people go on leisure holidays or to spend time with their friends and families living abroad or travel for business needs. Majority of Indian travellers go to Europe, US, UAE and the Asian countries. For all such travellers, we have created a special discounted International Roaming Offer which will make their stay more affordable and convenient. I am confident that the new offer will boost our international roaming usage during the season.”

In addition to the discounted tariffs, Idea subscribers are also eligible for a Cleartrip voucher worth Rs 4,000 that can be redeemed while booking airline tickets and hotel stay through the Cleartrip website. This travel voucher offers Rs 2,000 off on international hotel bookings, Rs 1,500 on international round trip flights, and Rs 500 on domestic round trip flights.

To avail the voucher, Idea post-paid subscribers need to SMS ‘ACT CLT’ to 12345, in return of which they will get a voucher code. This voucher code can facilitate a subscriber to redeem the discounts while booking flights and hotels through ‘Cleartrip’.

Details of network provider and terms and conditions can be accessed from www.ideacellular.com