Demand for Indian phone cards high in Dubai

Dubai, Dec 31: Indian telecom companies are giving UAE state-ownedphone monopoly Etisalat run for their money by providing cheaper callsto India.

There is unprecedented demand for calling cards of BSN, Airtel and Tata Indicom, shop owners say.

Instead of making phone calls from here, Indian expatriates buythese cards and pass on the card numbers to relatives because of thelonger talk time they offer even during peak hours.

Although the face value of phone cards are almost the same, thereis on an average about 14 minutes more talk time on India phone cardsthan what Etisalat provides.

A regular user of Airtel international calling card said that a Dh48 card would last him almost an hour.

Those who go to India on vacation come back with a large number ofIndia phone cards and make smart profit selling them to groceries andsupermarkets.

UNI