BSNL slashes STD tariffs by 50 %

Special Correspondent

Tie-up with DigiBee to offer cheap handsets

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Monthly rental of ‘Super One India Plan’ reduced substantially to Rs.299 from Rs.799

Broadband subscribers to be increased from 20 lakh to one crore by 2010ATTRACTIVE SCHEMES: Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL (left), with Suresh Dholakia, CMD, DigiBee Mobile, at the launch of the BSNL Handset Bundling Scheme in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Monday announced a 50 per cent reduction in STD charges on its mobile and landline networks.

Effective from midnight on Tuesday, landline users would pay Rs.1.20 per minute as against Rs.2.40 for STD calls to all networks. Rural customers would pay 80 paise per minute for STD calls.

The charges for intra-circle calls to BSNL network were also reduced from Rs.1.20 per minute to 60 paise with an increased pulse rate of two minutes.For mobile phone customers, STD charges were cut to Rs.1.20 per minute for the same network and Rs.1.40 for other networks.

Roaming charges under the pre-paid and the post-paid services were also revised. The roaming charges for all incoming calls were reduced — to Re.1 per minute from Rs.1.75 for all incoming calls; to Re.1 from Rs.1.40 for local outgoing; and to Rs.1.50 from Rs.2.40 for outgoing STD. The monthly rental of ‘Super One India Plan’ was reduced substantially to Rs.299 from Rs.799.

“We have chalked out a number of attractive schemes for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers offering highly competitive rates. We are also offering other schemes to give more value to our subscribers,” said BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal.

The expansion of mobile network was on track and more than 3 crore new connections would be added within a year, he said. The BSNL has over 7.2-crore subscribers, including 3.6-crore mobile customers.

Mr. Goyal announced that attractive schemes were also being announced to increase broadband subscribers from 20 lakh to one crore by 2010.

“This year, we will add 10 lakh new broadband subscribers. And to increase broadband penetration, we are also offering cost-effective personal computers bundling it with various schemes and attractive broadband connectivity options.” To offer more value to its customers, the BSNL has tied-up with DigiBee, an Indian mobile handset manufacturer, to offer cheap handsets through various bundling offers. Loaded with features such as secret SMS, call blacklist, polyphonic ring tones, built-in games and FM radio, the handsets will be in the Rs.1,000-Rs.1,600 range.

“The BSNL will be providing a total free talk-time of Rs.1,500 spread over 15 months, thus literally giving handsets for free to its customers,” he said.