Vodafone announces free national roaming beginning Diwali to counter Reliance Jio threat

NEW DELHI: To counter threat from Reliance Jio free phone call offer, telecom operator Vodafone India today 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 traveling out of town," Vodafone India, Director Commercial, Sandeep Kataria said in a statement. Starting this Diwali, all Vodafone India customers travelling anywhere in the country can continue to talk worry free without having to cut short their conversations, the statement said. "Even though outgoing charges while roaming had become comparable to home charges, consumer research has shown that incoming charges while roaming have been a hindrance to worry free usage," Kataria said. The new entrant Reliance Jio is offering free voice telephony across the country, including outgoing calls as well which is a big challenge for the entrenched players who derive a bulk of their revenue from the voice business. State-run BSNL has been offering free incoming call during roaming since June 15, 2015. At present, most of the telecom operators charge a tariff for providing free incoming calls during roaming.