Telecom operators now target students headed overseas to broaden subscriber stickiness

MUMBAI: India’s telecom operators and international SIM card providers are increasingly wooing students headed abroad for higher studies with attractive offers, hoping they will keep these numbers active even after getting an overseas connection later, as they seek to broaden subscriber stickiness and bring in higher revenue.

SIM card provider Matrix Cellular offers students headed to the UK and the US monthly plans starting at 10 pounds and $15 with limited data, respectively. Matrix is also coming up with a ‘Meet it or Beat it Guarantee’ scheme under which it will match or offer a better deal if a student finds a cheaper local plan in the UK or the US.

Regular international subscribers spend at least $30 in the US & 20 pounds in the UK with limited data on local monthly plans, experts said.


“Getting a mobile connection abroad could be a nightmare for students. They do not have a credit history in their country of stay and could end up paying huge deposits for a local SIM card,” said Shweta Sharma, assistant vice president at Matrix Cellular.

The company has tied up with education centres that help with the overseas admission process and says about 7,000 students who went abroad in 2019 -mostly in the past two months - have taken up their plans compared with a few hundred last year.

Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telco, said its long-duration international roaming packs of Rs 445 for 90 days that offer 75 minutes of calls and unlimited SMS are popular among students.

“This pack is particularly convenient for students and is available for top education destinations like the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia, Canada and France,” said an Airtel spokesperson. “Students can keep their Airtel number active while overseas and receive calls from friends, family along with OTPs for any financial/digital transaction at a highly affordable price-point.”

Rival Vodafone Idea, which has no separate overseas student plans, said it offers international roaming with unlimited data and calls to Indians headed to the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Germany and France for higher studies.

India sends the second-largest number of students – after China – to countries including the US, Australia, Canada and the UK for higher studies every year, reports said. Analysts said students are an important customer segment and operators need to focus more on them.

“If one looks at demographics, then it is the youth who will lead to customer retention. The plans abroad are very expensive and getting students will be a good source of revenue since they are generally financially better protected,” said Hemant M Joshi, technology, media and telecommunications leader at Deloitte India. “With data being consumed more by that segment, this move will boost ARPUs (average revenue per user).”

ARPU is a key performance measure for telcos. Bharti Airtel’s ARPU of Rs 129 exceeded Reliance Jio’s Rs 122 and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 108, as per the latest numbers.

Although international roaming accounts for 2-3% of their revenue, telcos are keen on attracting such subscribers because they are mostly high-end customers who belong to the ARPU bracket of Rs 700-plus, especially now that local tariffs have plunged to all-time lows amid intense competition.

The international roaming segment has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 15% over the past two years and is expected to expand by another 15% over the next two years, analysts said.