Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Mar 05, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Mar 05, 2002 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications TRAI move to help `roaming' mobile users Our Bureau
BANGALORE, March 4 MOBILE phone users in the country are in for a treat as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has cut down prices of `roaming' services to Rs 3 per minute and recommended reduction in the surcharge to eight per cent from 15 per cent. The revision in the surcharge was announced on March 1. The steep tariff plan for `roaming' (Rs 10 per minute) and higher airtime for regular calls had impinged on the growth of the mobile phone service in the country. However, progressive revision in the general tariff to as low Rs 2 per minute from the high of Rs 16 per minute and Rs 8 per minute for the peak and non-peak hours in the initial phase of the mobile phone service has helped the service grow faster in the last three years. Despite the phenomenal jump in the subscriber base in the last two years to over half-a-million, corporate users of the mobile service felt the pinch of prohibitive roaming charge and the surcharge and this constrained the service from becoming popular. The reduction in tariff and surcharge has brought great relief, particularly to professionals in the film industry and high-profile corporate executives. Service operators have also welcomed the lowering of the rates as they feel ffordability will give an impetus to the usage of roaming service and boost their revenues. AirTel, the mobile phone service brand of Bharti and Spice Telecom are the two operators in Karnataka, who together have built up a subscriber base of close to half-a-million. One of the fast-growing telecom circles, with a strong information technology industry profile, the State offers natural advantage to a variety of value-added services mounted on the mobile phones.
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