New Delhi : If MTNL has substantially undercut cellular operators in Delhi and Mumbai, by offering its GSM services at much lesser prices, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) now plans to pull the rug from under the other cellular operators across the country. According to a senior Sanchar Bhawan official: ``The tariff of the GSM mobile services provided by BSNL will either be lesser or the same as the rates on which MTNL is providing its GSM services.''"It makes sense for BSNL to make its services even cheaper than MTNL, because it will be responsible for connecting rural areas and smaller cities, where the rates will have to be made more lucrative," he added. BSNL is expected to start its services on a small scale in Calcutta and Hajipur (constituency of Union Minister of Telecommunications Ram Vilas Paswan in Bihar) by end of January.
Meanwhile, roaming is also set to become cheaper as MTNL and BSNLhave also been granted permission by the government to join hands and offer all-India roaming on their GSM networks. "They have been given authority to negotiate with each other," said a DoT official.
MTNL, which has started registration for its GSM mobile services on Monday, is charging Rs 1.50 per minute for an incoming call and Rs 2.70 per minute for an outgoing call, at a monthly rental of Rs 400. The pulse rate is 30 seconds. The activation charges for the service are Rs 1050, while the security deposit for local is Rs 2,000, Rs 4,000 for local and NLD, and Rs 6,000 for local, NLD, ISD.
The BSNL is setting up only 5,000 lines in Calcutta and 5,000 lines in Hajipur. This will be a symbolic launch and full-fledged services are expected to begin all over India only by September 2001, according to DoT officials.
Besides auto-roam, other services, that will be provided by MTNL to its GSM subscribers include voice mail, short messaging system (SMS), call line identification, and call conference.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
