On Monday, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) announced the launch of an international prepaid roaming facility in five countries, including France and Sweden, for cellular operators. The international prepaid roaming facility unveiled by the operator on Monday will apply to BSNL prepaid users in the Chennai Circle, according to multiple releases by the BSNL Chennai Circle. The state-run operator emphasized in its releases that its prepaid users are now able to enable international roaming in five countries, including France, Sweden, Thailand, Iceland and Afghanistan. BSNL has stated that the international prepaid facility is effective as of 16 January 2021 in five countries.
In five countries, BSNL Unveils International Prepaid Roaming Facility
The state-run operator emphasized that Hi3G in Sweden, Bouyges Telecom in France, TriNet in Thailand, MTN in Afghanistan and Vodafone in Iceland have enabled prepaid roaming facilities.
In Sweden, BSNL said that Rs 62.86 per minute for all local and national calls will be charged to its prepaid users, while Rs 44 will be charged to users for all calls to India. Rs 12.57 per minute will be charged to BSNL prepaid users in France for all local and national calls, while Rs 50.29 will be charged for calls to India.
In Thailand, BSNL said that for all local and national calls, its users will be charged Rs 6.63 per minute, while Rs 38.70 will be charged for calls to India. Similarly, BSNL users in Iceland will be charged Rs 39.87 for all local and national calls, while Rs 107.76 per minute will be charged for calls to India.
BSNL also stated that Rs 49.20 per minute will be charged to its prepaid users in Afghanistan for all national calls, while calls to India will be charged Rs 118.09 per minute.
BSNL Prepaid users required for new SIM collection
In its releases, the operator emphasized that prepaid users are “required to replace their existing prepaid SIM and to collect new international roaming SIMs” in order to enable the international prepaid roaming facility to operate. It has also been highlighted that all voice calls, including terminated calls, will be charged to BSNL prepaid users in five countries, including France and Sweden. The operator also stated that the data and SMS will be charged to its users, while calls to other international countries excluding India will be charged at corresponding rates.
Crucially, BSNL stated that the roaming tariffs were ‘calculated at the exchange rate’ in the five countries on 23 December 2020, with the tariffs in force until 31 March 2021. It was also stated that, after activation of the special tariff voucher (STV) IR57, the international roaming facility will be available to BSNL prepaid users.
