Chennai, Sept. 1
Indians travelling abroad can now save nearly 95 per cent on international roaming charges by using WorldSIM, a global roaming SIM card, according to Mr K. Vaidhyanathan, CEO, Hash10 Telcom Pvt Ltd, which is the exclusive distributor for the UK-based WorldSIM in India.
Consider this. A person on a ten-day visit to Dubai receives five calls each of five minutes; makes five calls to India of five minutes and sends ten text messages to India.
While this could cost between Rs 6,270 and Rs 7,575 depending up on the telecom service provider, it is Rs 1,314 with WorldSIM, a saving of nearly Rs 6,400, he told newspersons on the launch of the WorldSIM card.
While WorldSIM cards will only sold in India for travellers going abroad. The card comes with both a UK and US mobile number on the same SIM. In future, multiple local numbers may be added, he said on the launch of the card, which is priced at Rs 2,750, including Rs 500 talk time, he said.
WorldSIM enables customers to get free incoming calls in nearly 80 countries and customers can make outgoing calls from over 200 countries.
While there is a competing product, it is for the first time the prepaid WorldSIM with single number across the world will be available in the market, he said. Hash10 is a distributor of telecom products with ten stores on its own and 35 franchises across Tamil Nadu.
Some 45,000 people travel abroad daily but a single number global roaming SIM cards is not available, Mr Vaidyanathan said.
The company expects revenue of around Rs 27 crore in the first year of operation and twice as much in the second year, he said.
