STD calls @ Re 1 from March

rediff Business Desk | February 10, 2006 10:01 IST
Last Updated: February 10, 2006 11:59 IST


Telecom majors, BSNL and MTNL on Friday announced the One India
tariff on Friday, a move to offer uniform rates anywhere in India.

Under the plan, the two public sector companies will reduce long-
distance (STD) call rates to Rs 1 per minute for their fixed line
users. The new rates will be effective from March 1, 2006.

The STD charges will be slashed by up to 58 per cent, while the
rentals will be hiked. According to the new plans, the monthly
rental is likely to be hiked to Rs 300-500 per month from the
present Rs 180 per month.

Currently, STD rates are Rs 2.40 a minute for landlines and about Rs
3 for mobile phones. The local call rates are also expected to be
reduced to Re 1, from Rs 1.20 for three minutes.

Minister of communications Dayanidhi Maran had been pushing for the
OneIndia tariff scheme for over two months now. The OneIndia plan
was slated to be launched on Republic Day.

It got delayed as the telecom majors feared a dent in their revenues
to the tune of Rs 3000- 5000 crore (Rs 30-50 billion), besides huge
costs of network upgradation.

"The private sector GSM companies would also have to bring down
their prices to survive the competition," a senior MTNL official
said.

Addtional Inputs: PTI

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