New Delhi: Joining the the telecom tariff
war, state-run BSNL today slashed its national roaming charges
and offered two options -- 49 paise per minute or one paise
per second.
The company said in a statement that it has brought down
the national roaming rates "from Rs 1 or Rs 1.50 per minute to
49 paise per minute". It further added that under the per
second planning, the roaming charges are 1 paisa per second to
calls on its own network and 1.2 paisa per second to other
networks.
Roaming charges are fees charged for calls made to
mobiles which are not in the service provider's coverage area.
"This is an attempt to join the price war scenario
currently prevailing in the country," BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal
said in the statement, adding, "Our primary aim is to bring
the advantage of our network to our customers."
Operators resorting to per second billing has fuelled a
tariff war in the industry. Telecom major Bharti Airtel had
said that operators are resorting to "predatory pricing" and
requested regulator TRAI to look into the issue.
Operators are apprehensive that rock bottom pricing will
hit their margins and would be detrimental for the industry.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 00:19