After having flooded the market with offers such as lifetime validity vouchers and mobile credit cards, service providers are now trying to tap the many opportunities presented by the lucrative international calling segment. The idea behind tapping this segment is to offer constant connectivity and lower international calling charges to travellers, and give them control over their long distance call spends.

tele.net explores some of the international calling card options that are available in the market…

Bharti Airtel

The company offers these services under three heads: Airtel World SIM; ISD Calling Cards and Airtel World Calling Cards.

The prepaid Airtel World SIM allows users to receive incoming calls on their India Airtel numbers as well as make calls to countries across the world and within the country they are travelling to. For example, while in the UK, incoming calls from India and local calls are priced at $0.21 and incoming SMSs are free. For outgoing local calls and calls to India from mobile and landline numbers, the charges are $0.8 and $1.08 respectively, while outgoing SMSs are priced at $0.18.

The ISD Calling Cards are available for Rs 49, Rs 55, Rs 110, Rs 225, Rs 299, Rs 550 and Rs 2,200. The card priced at Rs 49 offers talktime worth Rs 44.40 and is valid for seven days. Calls made to the US, Alaska and Canada are charged at Re 0.05 per second; to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong at Re 0.053 per second; and to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark, and other fixed lines in Finland and China at Re 0.067 per second. The Rs 55 card offers talktime worth Rs 49.90 and has a 15-day validity. The Rs 110 card has Rs 99.70 of talktime and 45 days? validity. The Rs 225 card offers Rs 204 worth of talktime and has a 60-day validity; and the Rs 299 card offers Rs 271.10 worth of talktime and also has a 60-day validity. The cards priced at Rs 550 and Rs 2,200 offer talktime of Rs 498.60 and Rs 1,994.60 and have a validity of 90 and 180 days respectively.

The Airtel World Calling Cards enable customers to make calls to other countries while travelling. These cards are currently available for Rs 300, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The tariff on the card priced at Rs 500 is Rs 8 per minute for calls from the US, the UK and Singapore; Rs 10.40 per minute for calls from Malaysia; Rs 14.90 per minute for calls from Thailand; and Rs 11 per minute for calls from Australia.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

The operator?s prepaid India Telephone Card allows users to make STD and ISD calls. The cards are available in denominations of Rs 18.13, Rs 49.86, Rs 99.73, Rs 271.99, Rs 498.64 and Rs 997.28 in all states aside from Jammu & Kashmir. The corresponding talk values are Rs 16, Rs 47, Rs 100, Rs 281, Rs 520 and Rs 1,050.

In Jammu & Kashmir, customers can get the cards for Rs 20, Rs 55, Rs 110, Rs 300, Rs 550 and Rs 1,100, with respective talk values of Rs 18, Rs 52, Rs 110, Rs 310, Rs 574 and Rs 1,158.

Local and STD tariffs are Re 0.01 per second for all calls. ISD calls to Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are charged at Re 0.11 per second; those to the UAE are charged at Re 0.12 per second; calls to Oman cost Re 0.18 per second; and those to Qatar Re 0.13 per second. Calls to the US and Canada are charged at Re 0.06 per second, while those to the UK cost Re 0.13 per second.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

The operator?s Virtual Calling Card allows users to make local, national and international calls. The cards are available for Rs 20, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500, Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 offering talktime of Rs 17, Rs 91, Rs 181, Rs 453, Rs 907 and Rs 1,813 respectively, with corresponding validities of 4, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 270 days.

Reliance Communications

Prepaid STD Calling Card

The operator?s STD Calling Card is a rechargeable account-based prepaid card that can be used only on Reliance phones (fixed, fixed wireless and post-paid or prepaid). The Rs 125 denomination card offers talktime of Rs 113.33, the Rs 250 card offers talktime of Rs 226.65, the Rs 650 card offers talktime of Rs 589.30, and the Rs 875 card offers talktime of Rs 793.29. The first two cards are valid for 30 days and the other two for 60 days.

Call rates during the day are Re 1 per minute, Re 0.90 per minute, Re 0.75 per minute and Re 0.75 per minute respectively. Calls during the night within Reliance Communications (RCOM) network cost Re 0.50 per minute and Re 0.25 per minute for the first two cards, and are free on the last two cards. For night calls made outside RCOM?s network, customers are charged Re 0.50 per minute on all calling cards.

Global calling cards

Three variants of global calling cards are available: the US-Canada Card, the Gulf Calling Card and the Singapore-Malaysia card. Priced at Rs 799 and Rs 2,250, the US-Canada Card has a rollover period of 15 days. The former offers talktime of Rs 724.39 and has a 30-day validity while the latter offers Rs 2,039.89 of talktime and has a validity of 90 days.

Call rates for the Rs 799 card are Rs 1.99 per minute for calls to the US and Canada, Rs 6 per minute to landline numbers, and Rs 8 per minute to mobile numbers in the UK and the rest of Europe. Calls to Southeast Asia cost Rs 3.50 per minute, to Australia and New Zealand Rs 6 per minute, to SAARC countries Rs 8 per minute, to the Gulf countries Rs 6.99 per minute, and Rs 9 per minute to the rest of the world.

On the Rs 2,250 card, calls cost Rs 1.75 per minute to the US and Canada, Rs 2.99 per minute to landline numbers in the UK, Rs 4.99 per minute to landline numbers in the rest of Europe and Rs 8 per minute to mobile numbers in the UK and to the rest of Europe. Calls to Southeast Asia are charged at Rs 3.25 per minute, to Australia and New Zealand at Rs 6 per minute, to SAARC countries at Rs 8 per minute, to the Gulf countries at Rs 6.75 per minute, and Rs 9 per minute to the rest of the world.

The Gulf Calling Card is priced at Rs 699, and offers Rs 633.73 of talktime with a validity of 60 days and a rollover period of 15 days. Calls to Kuwait and Bahrain are charged at Rs 4.99 per minute, to Oman and the UAE at Rs 6.99 per minute, to Qatar and Saudi Arabia at Rs 7.20 per minute and Rs 9 to all other countries.

The Singapore-Malaysia Card is priced at Rs 449, and offers Rs 407.07 of talktime with a 60-day validity and a rollover period of 15 days. Calls to the US and Canada cost Rs 4 per minute, to landline numbers in the UK and the rest of Europe Rs 6 per minute, and to mobile numbers in the UK and the rest of Europe Rs 8 per minute. Calls to Southeast Asia are charged at Rs 3.50 per minute, to Australia and New Zealand at Rs 7 per minute, to SAARC countries at Rs 8 per minute, to the Gulf countries at Rs 7.20 per minute, and to the rest of the world at Rs 9.50 per minute.

Vodafone Essar

The operator has two categories of prepaid calling cards: the World Calling Cards and the Gulf Calling Cards.

The World Calling Cards are available in various denominations. The Rs 110 card offers talktime of Rs 99 and has a validity of one month. The Rs 299 card offers talktime of Rs 271 and has a validity of two months. The Rs 550 card offers Rs 498 of talktime and is valid for three months. The Rs 700 card offers talktime worth Rs 634 and is valid for four months. And the Rs 2,500 card offers full talktime and has a validity of nine months.

Tata Teleservices Limited

The operator offers the Global Calling Card and the Smart Call Calling Card. The former is available in denominations of Rs 250, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 with talk values of Rs 226, Rs 453 and Rs 906 respectively.

The Smart Call Calling Card comes in denominations of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 with talktime of Rs 89, Rs 455 and Rs 890 respectively. The Rs 100 card is valid for 30 days and the other two for 90 days. Calls to the US and Canada and to landline numbers in the UK are charged at Rs 4 per minute on the Rs 100 and the Rs 500 cards, and at Rs 1.99 per minute and Rs 3.50 per minute respectively on the Rs 1,000 card. Calls to mobile numbers in the UK are charged at Rs 7.50 per minute on all three cards. Calls to landlines and mobiles in Europe, excluding the UK, cost Rs 8 per minute on all three cards, while calls to Southeast Asia cost Rs 8 on the Rs 100 and Rs 500 cards, and Rs 4.50 on the Rs 1,000 card.