New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI): To speed up customer acquisition, state-owned telecom firm BSNL has slashed mobile rates by up to 80 per cent for the first two months under a scheme for new customers.

"BSNL has revamped its infrastructure now. We have decided to cut mobile call rates by up to 80 per cent for new customer so that they get experience of our revamped services," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

The call rates have been reduced both per minute and per second billing plan, and will be valid only for the first two months of a customer's joining BSNL.

New customer buying BSNL connection will have to buy plan voucher of Rs 36 for per second plan and Rs 37 for per minute plan, including MNP customers).

Customers opting for Rs 37 scheme will be charged 10 paisa per minute for making local as well as STD calls within BSNL and 30 paisa per minute on other network.

Similarly, after recharging phone for Rs 36, customer will be charged 1 paisa for every 3 second duration on local and STD calls made within BSNL network and 2 paisa for 3 second on other network.

The state-run telecom company has roped in Aegis BPO for its customer service which also serves leading private telecom operators. BSNL has also started monitoring complaints on the social media to provide resolution to aggrieved customers.

The company has also gone mobile number portability (MNP) positive with 1,57,564 people joining network customers and 1,24,158 leaving its network between July to November period.

At the end of September, BSNL mobile customer base stood at 79.6 million and the company figured among top 5 players in terms of new subscriber addition during the month.