New Delhi, Jan 07: Joining the tariff war for market share, telecom PSUs -- BSNL and MTNL-- today cut STD rates to lower the mobile to mobile call charges from a peak of Rs 9 a minute to Rs 4.80 a minute, saying it would still be cheaper than private cellular operators who were charging separately for air time in addition to call rate of Rs 2.99 per minute. Announcing the new tariff package which remains unchanged for STD calls below 500 kms, BSNL CMD Prithipal Singh told reporters that domestic long distance calls made from cellular to fixed line phones would also be charged at Rs 4.80 per minute for distances above 500 kms.
BSNL and MTNL`s restructured tariff is in response to lowering of STD rates from a peak of Rs 9 to Rs 2.99 by private cellular operators, announced late last week.
Singh said that charges on their network would still be lower considering the average air-time rate of Rs 2 a minute charged by their competitors in the private sector. Bureau Report