Agencies with additional inputs from PTI
New Delhi, Feb 10: 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.