Vodafone Idea (Vi) has made international roaming free on select plans, potentially opening up a new battleground among telecom operators to attract and retain subscribers as overseas connectivity becomes another benefit that can be bundled with mobile plans.
The telco on Friday announced free international roaming across select postpaid, prepaid and enterprise plans covering more than 170 countries. Depending on the plan, customers can avail of the benefit for up to three international trips a year, with specified data and outgoing calling allowances. Vi said the offering could result in savings of up to Rs 9,000 a year.
The move is significant because international roaming has traditionally been an additional purchase for consumers travelling overseas. Vi is now bundling the benefit into select plans, effectively shifting the proposition from buying a roaming pack each time a customer travels to having roaming included as part of the mobile plan.
The benefits, however, are subject to plan-specific limits. For prepaid consumers on eligible annual packs, one international trip of up to five days a year will qualify for the free roaming benefit. For postpaid users, data allowances range from 5GB to 10GB. Customers on the Rs 501 postpaid plan are eligible for one trip a year, while RedX customers can avail of the benefit for three trips, with a minimum gap of seven days between trips.
RedX customers had earlier received one week of international roaming free, which Vi said translated into savings of Rs 3,000 a year. Eligible family plans start at Rs 801 and carry a 5GB data allowance.
The move comes as Vi looks to sustain its subscriber momentum. In Q1FY26, the company reported its first net subscriber additions since the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. With the company also having received a fresh capital commitment of Rs 4,730 crore from promoter Aditya Birla Group, customer acquisition and retention are emerging as key priorities.
“Vodafone Idea has a large postpaid base, and this offering could further help attract more users,” an analyst said.
The proposition could also put pressure on rivals to enhance their international roaming offerings. Reliance Jio currently has international roaming packs starting at Rs 951, including a pack with 4GB data and 10-day validity, while its Rs 1,101 pack offers 28-day validity. Bharti Airtel offers roaming on a per-day basis for prepaid customers, with packs starting at Rs 698 a day, while its postpaid offerings start at Rs 2,999 for 10 days.
Industry experts expect rivals, particularly Airtel, to respond with their own variants in the coming weeks. Airtel management had identified international roaming as a premiumisation lever during its Q1 earnings call.
This could make international roaming the latest front in the telecom industry’s battle for subscribers, with operators increasingly using differentiated benefits rather than only tariffs to strengthen customer loyalty. If rivals follow Vi with free or subsidised roaming, consumers could see a wider range of international connectivity benefits bundled into their plans.
Vi is positioning the initiative under its new “Vi Pe Sab Hain VIP” campaign, its first major brand campaign in six years. “We’re making international roaming free depending on the plan you choose. Your Vi number now travels with you for free,” Vi CEO Abhijit Kishore said.