M A I N   N E W S

BSNL cell services launched
Outgoing call to cost Rs 1.20

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee talks over a cellphone with Mr L. K. Advani in New Delhi during the launch of BSNL cellular services in Lucknow on Saturday. Communication Minister Pramod Mahajan is seen with him. — PTI photo

Lucknow, October 19
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today announced the lowest tariffs for its countrywide GSM mobile services, launched here by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, with an outgoing call costing just Rs 1.20 and a low monthly rental of Rs 225.

The mobile services, offered across the country except in Delhi and Mumbai, will have other features like free SMS, no airtime for STD, ISD and free roaming.

Announcing the rates at a press conference, BSNL’s Chairman-cum Managing Director Prithipal Singh said attractive packages had been offered for the pre-paid and post-paid SIM cards.

He said even in the face of financial constraints, the fare structure had been kept lowest among the major cellular service providers in the country.

Under the pre-paid scheme, there are four options — Rs 300, Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 2000. The initial SIM value/activation charges is Rs 200 and the free talk value on initialising the SIM is Rs 100.

The pulse rate for outgoing calls will be 30 seconds while that for incoming will be 60 seconds. The maximum charges for outgoing calls will be Rs 3 per minute while the lowest is Rs 1.20 per minute during the peak hours (8 a.m. to 10 pm.).

The incoming calls under the pre-paid scheme will be free in the off-peak hours (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.) while it will be Rs 1.20 per minute during the peak hours. Calls made to the BSNL PSTN/mobile network will be charged less than those made on other networks.

Under the post-paid scheme, there are two monthly rental plans — Rs 225 and Rs 325. While the registration fee will be Rs 500, the activation charges (one time) will be Rs 200. The security deposit will be Rs 1000 for local calls, Rs 2000 for local plus STD, Rs 3000 for local + STD + ISD and NIL for roaming (additional).

The pulse rate for outgoing calls in this scheme will be 15 seconds under both plans 225 and 325. The pulse rate for incoming calls will be 60 seconds for both plans.

The maximum charge on outgoing calls will be Rs 2.40 while that on incoming will be Rs 1.20 under plan 225, valid for all 24 hours.

Under the plan 325, the maximum price to be paid on outgoing calls will be Rs 2.40 and that on incoming will be Rs 1.20 during the peak hours. The incoming will be free during off-peak hours in this plan.

Among other facilities, the SMS in the pre-paid scheme will be free with maximum of 160 characters and in post-paid scheme the same will cost Re 1 to Rs 2 depending on the telecom circle. The rental/subscription will be free for roaming facility in the pre-paid scheme while it will be Rs 50 per month under plan 225 and free for plan 325 in the post-paid scheme. The facility of call-waiting and voice mail will be free while the SIM replacement charges will be Rs 200 on each occasion and call forwarding (in the same area) will cost Rs 2 in both schemes.

The peak and off peak time for STD/ISD calls will be as applicable to PSTN calls while Sundays and three national holidays will be off peak time for airtime charges. Free talk value of Rs 100 on initialising the SIM is also being given to all subscribers as an introductory offer for 90 days under the pre-paid scheme.

Earlier, Mr Vajpayee termed the rapid strides made in the field of telecommunications in the country in the recent past as a major achievement of his government and said this had made the entire world easily accessible.

He was speaking after launching the countrywide cellular services of the BSNL here by making the inaugural call to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in New Delhi from Raj Bhawan here.

Mr Vajpayee lauded this initiative of the BSNL, describing it as a great step forward in the field of telecommunications.

The Prime Minister said he was happy to observe that today there were as many as one crore mobile phone users in the country and they were gradually becoming more popular than the stationary phones. UNI, PTI