News: Demand for Indian phone cards high in Dubai

(UNI 01/01/2007) Dubai - Indian telecom companies are giving UAE state-owned phone monopoly Etisalat run for their money by providing cheaper calls to 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 buy these cards and pass on the card numbers to relatives because of the longer talk time they offer even during peak hours.

Although the face value of phone cards are almost the same, there is on an average about 14 minutes more talk time on India phone cards than 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 of India phone cards and make smart profit selling them to groceries and supermarkets.