BSNL to launch free roaming today

NEW DELHI: State-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will launch free roaming from today, a move which may send jitters to its peers.

"The free roaming is a far reaching direction in mobile services in India, second only to giving incoming free. Basically, we want to make our customers stress-free in today's world, so that they do not bother about their phone bills touching a higher end," said Anupam Shrivastava, CMD, BSNL.

The struggling PSU has recently made landline calls from 9 pm-7 am free in its network, as a result it has seen almost 30% surge in its customers base in the last one month.

The company is also targets to set up 2,500 Wi-Fi hotspots in 250 cities across India by this year end.

Talking about telecom regulator TRAI's intervention into such schemes, Shrivastava said: "We have not received any such communication from TRAI. BSNL has announced this scheme with the consent of Minister of Communications & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad who himself had announced it in a press conference held on June 2. TRAI has no objection to it."