One India / One Nation / One Rupee Plans by various operators

[Harshad 1]

Waiting for BPL Mobile in Mumbai to introduce such a prepaid plan ............

INDIA ONE!! Now Call anyone, anywhere across INDIA at just Re1/Min. Recharge with Rs1111 and get Rs750 regTT and 1111 local SMS FREE. Validity 30 days. Call 456

I checked with Airtel Prepaid Customer Service. It looks like Roaming Charges remain same [Rs 3.50 PM beyond 500 KM for incoming and outgoing].

Looks like a great offer for me. This could be a potential replacement of my existing Reliance Connection Joy499!!! Plus I get GPRS for Rs 250 as Prepaid in Airtel.

Do we need to wait for some more offers like this or is this the right time for going for this offer?

Reliance has just broken Airtel's "tradition" of being the FIRST to introduce a new offer vis-a-vis Airtel's claim to be the "FIrst". Yo RIM !

Btw, Ramchi , has airtel brought this offer in your circle only or has it been introduced on a pan-india coverage ?

Edited January 15, 2006 by Harshad

[Ramchi 0]

Harshad,

This offer will be definitely extended to all circles sooner than later.

Good thing about this offer is you can carry over the balance under different plan and your existing balance automatically be eligible for this offer as well when you recharge with Rs 1111. Along with lifetime plans you can use this plan based on your need for that particular month.

This offer will be great for those who makes extensive STD calls out side their state or circles and do not make that much local calls.

[robbyji 2]

Rajesh S Kurup in Mumbai | January 16, 2006 10:19 IST

Toeing the line taken by Reliance Infocomm, other Indian telecom majors – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Tata Teleservices, Hutch and Airtel – are readying for the rollout of 'OneIndia' plans that offer a single tariff structure across various circles in the country, by January 26.

The only exception is Idea Cellular, which has no intentions of joining the bandwagon.

"The telecom players are gearing up to launch 'OneIndia' services this month, with most of them intending to launch the services by around January 26. The companies are trying to cash in on the Republic Day spirit. The rollouts will take place around January 26, maybe not on that day itself, it being a holiday," a telecom industry analyst told Business Standard.

IT and Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran had earlier announced launching the 'OneIndia' plan in January this year. And with the minister mooting the plan for the PSU, the other players are following suit.

According to Kobita Desai, principal analyst (telecom), Gartner, "All players will begin rolling out a single plan to stay buoyant in the industry and to tide over competition. Reliance Infocomm has already rolled out its 'OneIndia' plan and others will not like to be far behind."

BSNL officials said that the company was ready with the scheme and will be offering the services under its 'IndiaOne' brand.

"It is all ready, we are just waiting for approval from the higher-ups. The scheme would be launched either on Pongal day on January 14, or on Republic Day. This is yet to be finalised," they said.

When contacted, sources in TTSL were of the opinion that the "company will roll out customer-friendly initiatives and 'OneIndia' is part of the plan".

However, the exact launch date nor the tariff plan was revealed. Ditto is the case with Hutch and Airtel, with officials confirming that a similar plan is being considered and would be rolled out once the competition heats up.

Meanwhile, Idea Cellular is one company that has no intentions of joining the bandwagon. Vikram Mehmi, CEO, Idea, said, "Integrated players with their own national long distance network can take a hit on their NLD margins, but it may not be viable for pure play operators".

A 'OneIndia' plan would result in erosion of average revenue per user as the players would be offering services at lower prices, but they expect to make good the losses with increase in volume over a longer period of time.

Telecom Democracy

* The country will have a uniform STD slab for both fixed line and mobile services, irrespective of distance of calls.

* Reliance Infocomm as been the first off the block, with its recently-launched 'One Nation One Tariff' plan.

* All major operators are also drawing up plans to match the Re 1 tariff of Reliance Infocomm.

[Ramchi 0]

The problem with this tarrif is they are asking you to pay Rs 1100 permonth [or pay Rs 500 as plan charge] to avail this One India plan. I am not sure whether is it viable for many people to pay such a large sum every month.

[ctrl_alt_del 0]

Higher entry rates to enjoy One India tariffs might be affordable for those who intend to make high number of STD calls, but this should not be done at the cost of ignoring those with medium STD requirements. Like Reliance, in a bid to promote its 11,00/- voucher, is slowly discontinuing the 110/- and 220/- RIC. This sort of move hits people like us hard who need to make STD calls at lower rate, yet cannot afford to invest 1100/- p.m. at a single go.

[Ramchi 0]

Higher entry rates to enjoy One India tariffs might be affordable for those who intend to make high number of STD calls, but this should not be done at the cost of ignoring those with medium STD requirements. Like Reliance, in a bid to promote its 11,00/- voucher, is slowly discontinuing the 110/- and 220/- RIC. This sort of move hits people like us hard who need to make STD calls at lower rate, yet cannot afford to invest 1100/- p.m. at a single go.

This India One may not be such an attractive plan for masses. It is just preempting TRAI/Government from imposing uniform call rates across all plans. By limiting this option only for high-end customers they closed the door for Uniform call rates for normal users.

[coolkushi 0]

BSNL cell plan: STD at Re 1, local 60 p

January 23, 2006 17:27 IST

Uniform tariffs across India has not been announced yet, but Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Monday unveiled mobile STD rate of Re 1 and local call rate at 60 paise a minute with a monthly fixed charge of Rs 999 for its post-paid users for a 15 second pulse rate.

The PSU has launched new plan for post-paid mobile service for a monthly fixed charge of Rs 999 bundling with a Cellone Axia A108 handset where customers will get free calls worth Rs 700.

The plan has a registration charge in Rs 500 and a one-time activation charge of Rs 200, officials of the public sector telecom unit said.

Under this plan, call charges for local calls within BSNL's own network both -- mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-fixed is 60 paise while to other network it is Re 1 a minute.

For STD (Inter Circle), the call charges are Re 1 a minute within its own network for calls to both its mobile and fixed networks while to other networks it is Rs 1.60 a minute.

Since the handset is a Microsoft Windows CC.Net OS phone it has all advanced features like GPRS and MMS services for data and video downloads.

Cellular operator Hutch offers mobile STD at Rs 1.32 a minute on a Rs 60 top-up card.

Reliance Infocomm on Sunday offered free outgoing calls worth up to Rs 2,000 on some of its new handsets along with lower local and STD call charges.

On buying a handset for Rs 2,700, a subscriber will get Rs 2,000 worth talktime for outgoing calls along with 2,000 local short messages (SMS) free. However, both these facilities had to be used within a period of nine months and there should be a minimum recharge of Rs 149 after two months from the date of subscription.

This is the third time in the last three weeks that Reliance has announced a new tariff plan. Earlier announcements included outstation calls for Re 1 and flexible tariffs on fixed wireless phones.

The tariffs would be 99 paise a minute for a local call from Reliance to Reliance phone and Rs 1.79 from Reliance to any other mobile. STD rate has been fixed at Rs 1.79 from Reliance to Reliance anywhere in the country and Rs 2.49 from Reliance to other phones.

Prior to this, Reliance Infocomm had introduced a recharge voucher offering its pre-paid cellular customers a 15 paise-per-minute for calls to Reliance India Mobile phones within the circle. Calls to Reliance fixed phones would cost 40 paise and all other mobile phones will cost 40 paise as per the new scheme.

Source: Rediff.com

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/jan/23bsnl.htm

Check out the BSNL Website also,

http://www.bsnl.co.in/newsdetailed.php?news_id=278

[coolkushi 0]

Hey friends...

The PSU has launched new plan for post-paid mobile service for a monthly fixed charge of Rs 999 bundling with a Cellone Axia A108 handset where customers will get free calls worth Rs 700.

they are bundling the handset also...

the handset is really COOL!!!!... Its actually a PDA phone..

check out the photo and features here...

http://www.myaxia.com/spec.htm

[Chirag 5]

The offer is quite interesting!! monthly outgo of 999 is the only hindrance, but hi-end users can think of shifting to this!

[abhay 0]

hmmm yeah absolutly true chirag

the only things that would actully stop me from TAKING this psu's offer is

1) the 999 monthly rental

2) after my exp with MTNL's network ! i dont belive in MTNL/BSNL anymore

3) hehe i dont think BSNL is avaliable in mumbai

[Arun 795]

'OneIndia' misses deadline, again

- Rediff.com

Joji Thomas Philip in New Delhi | January 27, 2006 15:20 IST

The occasion of Republic Day was one for gloom in the communications and IT ministry as its ambitious and "OneIndia" project, stipulated to take off on January 26, missed the deadline.

For Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran, this marks the second instance of the ministry missing its deadline for the policy. Maran had earlier announced that OneIndia would be in place by January 1, before revising the date to January 26.

With the deadline missed, the ministry may be forced to rope in the telecom regulator to implement and sustain uniform call rates across the country.

This is because the restructuring of carriage costs and access deficit charges, the two key barriers to implementation of the policy, can only be undertaken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

While it is still possible for the government to bypass the regulator and announce "OneIndia" plan, operators share the view that the move would result in artificially defined tariff cuts, which would have to be sustained by an over 100 per cent increase in urban phone rentals, coupled with a 50 per cent reduction in pulse rates.

Currently, all inter-circle calls in India are charged 30 paise per minute as ADC and between 19 paise and 89 paise per minute (based on the distance) as carriage charges, which makes Re 1 STD calls unsustainable, especially on landline calls, across the country.

According to Trai sources, the regulator is ready to unveil the new ADC policy based on revenue share rather than a fixed amount on a per-minute basis and also put in place a new carriage charge regime, but can only do so after it gets the go-ahead from the Department of Telecommunications.

However, an ongoing tussle between the ministry for communications and Trai over the last several months has resulted in the DoT shutting out the regulator from policy discussions on "OneIndia".

Reliance Infocomm already offers STD at Re 1 but the catch lies in the fine print - post-paid users will have to pay a rental of Rs 449 and pre-paid customers will have to avail of a minimum recharge of Rs 1,100. A similar plan from BSNL comes at a rental of Rs 999 per month.

Missed call

Maran had said 'OneIndia' would be in place by January 1, before revising the date to January 26

The ministry may be forced to rope in Trai to implement and sustain uniform call rates across the country

Trai's help may be needed because restructuring of carriage costs and access deficit charges can only be undertaken by it

An ongoing tussle between the communications ministry and Trai has resulted in the DoT shutting out the regulator from policy discussions on 'OneIndia'

[jusmail 0]

Hope they don't select April 1st as the next day to fool all of us (grin)

[siva1983in 1]

Even if the deadlines are missed, this one india regime can be expected very soon.. IT minister Mr.Dayanidi maran speaks about this in each and every function here in tamilnadu.. He will be present at every central govt. function like stone laying... and in every oppurtunity he speaks, he says one india tariff from "BSNL" (with preference to landlines that the common public still use) will come soon. This is an important point for their election campaign. So 100% sure, we can expect this regime before the election campaign starts.

[prakritish 1]

Hey friends...

The PSU has launched new plan for post-paid mobile service for a monthly fixed charge of Rs 999 bundling with a Cellone Axia A108 handset where customers will get free calls worth Rs 700.

they are bundling the handset also...

the handset is really COOL!!!!... Its actually a PDA phone..

check out the photo and features here...

http://www.myaxia.com/spec.htm

Any idea how much the handset is going to cost?

[siva1983in 1]

Any idea how much the handset is going to cost?

As per the information given by my local bsnl the handset is given FREE for the persons activating the 999 plan.. I think its like giving the telephone free for usage with our landline connection.. The phone may not be ours.. we can just use it.

[amtrag 20]

The free mobile phone .. actually a PDA...being offered by BSNL is for a monthly rental of Rs.999 and not one time charge of Rs.999 for lifetime.

So don't confuse this offer with the lifetime offers being given by mobile companies for Rs.999.

[amit_arya 0]

Any idea how much the handset is going to cost?

As per the information given by my local bsnl the handset is given FREE for the persons activating the 999 plan.. I think its like giving the telephone free for usage with our landline connection.. The phone may not be ours.. we can just use it.

well it is gsm ... so just actiavte connection on a fraud address (like ppl did in reliance 500 sceme)

throw the conenction , get the handset unlocked for other networks (just incase bsnl cared to get them locked) and voliaaaaaaaaaaaa u have a dirt cheap PDA handset.........

and then u will have another insurance company crying....

is that history repeating itself... ?????

[jusmail 0]

OneIndia tariff likely on Monday

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

BSNL and MTNL are likely to announce the much-awaited Re. 1-a-minute STD rates for their fixed line users under OneIndia plan on Monday. Though MTNL and BSNL initially resisted the move, predicting that the plan may incur losses, the two public sector units are understood to have agreed to the proposal through different slabs. The proposals also involve mobile STD rates. As per the estimates, BSNL could lose up to Rs. 5,000 crore annually due to One-India tariff but is hoping to make over with a hike in traffic. Last week, Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran convened a series of meetings with top executives of BSNL to hammer out OneIndia compliant tariffs. Confusion, however, continues to prevail over whether the two PSUs will come out with uniform call rates across the country or will announce different tariff plans offering STD rates at Re. 1 a minute. Officials from both PSUs declined to comment on the issue. Mr. Maran said the fresh rates under OneIndia, the Minister's ambitious initiative, might not cause any increase in rates of local calls or rentals but pulses could be lowered on the calls.

[Honest 836]

ya its likely to launch today. bsnl and mtnl both will come with different plans but with lower puls rate.

[sajokj 8]

STD rates at Re 1 from this week likely

2006-02-06 08:52

The Hindu Business Line

Telephone users awaiting STD rates at a flat of Re 1 to anywhere across the country could be in for a treat with the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd set to announce its OneIndia tariffs this week.

Though the announcement, earlier scheduled for Monday, was called off due to last minute differences with the Government on the proposed tariff scheme, senior Department of Telecom officials said that major issues have been ironed out and the other glitches would soon be worked out.

The other good news that is expected to pave the way for the adoption of One India tariffs by telecom operators is that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is very close to announcing the revised access deficit charges. The new ADC regime proposes to move to a revenue sharing arrangement instead of the existing norm of levying the charge on a per minute basis. ADC on long-distance charges was one of the reasons why the operators were expressing their inability to comply with OneIndia call tariff proposed by the Communications Ministry.

ADC is the levy charged on operators for funding unviable telephone connections in rural India.

At present, the charges vary up to Rs 1.10 per minute, which makes it difficult for any operator to drop STD rates to Re 1. The new regime may propose a fixed revenue share like the 5 per cent share currently being paid by the operators to fund universal services obligation. Such a move will pave the way for lowering the long-distance charges further.

On the international long-distance sector, TRAI is likely to retain the current model of charging ADC on a per minute basis. While at present the ADC rates on ISD calls vary between Rs 2.50 a minute and Rs 3.25 a minute for outgoing and incoming calls, TRAI is likely to bring down the charges by almost a rupee. This will deal a blow to the grey market in the ISD segment, which has been thriving due to the high arbitrage charges.

[Arun 795]

STD calls @ just Re 1 by BSNL & MTNL - from March 01, 2006

Business Standard | Economic Times | UNI | The Financial Express | PTI | NDTV | CNN-IBN | The Hindu Business Line | PIB

February 10, 2006 10:01 IST

The details of these plans are as under:-

According to the new plans :

• STD calls have come down to Re one per three minutes. The current peak rate was Rs 2.40 per three minutes.
  
• Local calls will now be charged at Re 1 per three minutes. The current rate was Rs 1.20 per three minutes.
  
• Incoming ISD call rates are reduced from Rs 3.25 per minute Rs 2.50 per minute.
  

Telecom majors, BSNL and MTNL announced the One India tariff on Friday, a move to bring down STD call rates to Re 1 per minute anywhere in India.

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 will be hiked to Rs 300-500 per month from the present Rs 180 per month. Call charges for fixedline services will be reduced by 16 per cent and STD charges will be reduced by up to 58 per cent. At a monthly rental of about Rs 350 per month, a subscriber will be able to make a three-minute call at Re 1.

The decision to have single uniform rates was arrived at on Friday in a meeting between the boards of two telecom giants - BSNL and MTNL.

This landmark slash in the rates is part of the One-India programme launched by the two telecom giants.

The new STD call rates are the lowest in Indian telecom history. It also means a a mammoth cut of 60 per cent from the current highest rate of Rs 2.40 per minute

In the new scheme that will be announced on Friday tariff structure becomes very simple. There is one tariff for STD calls and one for local calls. However, the subscribers will have to pay rental of Rs 350 per month for availing One India tariff. BSNL charges Rs 180 per month as rental. Therefore, the increase in rental will be about 94per cent

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. Their subscribers will pay just one rupee a call, the only difference being that the rate will apply for three minutes up to 200 kilometres and one minute beyond

Both BSNL and MTNL will continue offering all their existing schemes so that those subscribers who predominantly make local calls are not effected by hike in rentals. According to BSNL estimates, 73 per cent of its fixedline subscribers make calls below Rs 500 per month.

The two telcos will also offer One India scheme for their mobile subscribers. Reliance Infocomm was the first company to offer STD at Re one per minute. However, it charges a rental of Rs 500 per month for this scheme.

Moreover, BSNL and MTNL have a fixedline subscriber of over 4.5 crore and account for more than 90 per cent of the total fixed telephony subscribers. BSNL officials have estimated that the new tariff will have an impact on its revenue to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore per annum.

This is on the assumption that there is no increase in the STD traffic. The officials, however, feel that there may be an increase of about Rs 25per cent in the STD traffic. This will definitely reduce the losses on the revenue due to new schemes.

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 fear a dent in their revenues to the tune of Rs 3000- 5000 crore, 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.

The state-owned operator will go in for a simplistic tariff structure that will not confuse subscribers. He said that whatever is the cheapest (local calls up to 50 km slab) should not be touched but admitted that ushering in an uniform STD rate will be tricky.

The launch of the scheme which was announced by Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran had to be postponed twice as the Access Deficit Charge (ADC) Component had to be revised by TRAI.

The new Access Deficit Charges (ADC) that is being worked out by the telecom regulator will be based on a revenue share basis.

TRAI sources said for STD calls the new ADC regime is likely to be the same 4-6 per cent.

The ADC amount, paid to BSNL for carrying out its rural telephony obligations will be maintained at Rs 5,000 crore a year.

BSNL sources said, “Even if the call rates are announced on Friday, customers may have to wait for the benefits. Since the accounting on revenue share is done on a quarterly basis, we have sought time till April 1. Rentals and local call rates have been restructured to give a cushion to the revenues, since it is difficult to predict whether the increase in call volumes to offset lower tariffs will materialise.”

Union Minister of Communications and IT Dayanidhi Maran, it is believed, is in a rush to push the scheme through before the Election Commission announces dates for polls in his home state of Tamil Nadu and enforces the model code of conduct.

[abhay 0]

hey does that mean the PLAN 700 reliance to reliance free will make a revamp again

[coolraj79 0]

ok guys there is all the fuss about One India plan ....rim has this plan on 1100 voucher in prepaid...but to tell u the truth can any1 tell me where is the benefits for almost 60-70% of the ppl who use mim 330 voucher....even bsnl n mtnl r cumin out with this plan but they r hikin the rentals on their landlines....so guys this is all bull****..u cant shift to one india plan unless u pay higher which makes the reduction in call charges useless...!! if TRAI and mobile operators care genuinely for the middle class, can they dare to come out with the same one india plan on their 330 and 350 vouchers also??

[BPP 0]

more such plans will come from diff operators

[spdf 0]

ok guys there is all the fuss about One India plan ....rim has this plan on 1100 voucher in prepaid...but to tell u the truth can any1 tell me where is the benefits for almost 60-70% of the ppl who use mim 330 voucher....even bsnl n mtnl r cumin out with this plan but they r hikin the rentals on their landlines....so guys this is all bull****..u cant shift to one india plan unless u pay higher which makes the reduction in call charges useless...!! if TRAI and mobile operators care genuinely for the middle class, can they dare to come out with the same one india plan on their 330 and 350 vouchers also??

I agree, this is not what we expected from OneIndia plan!

These BSNL and MTNL guys doesn't wan their ARPU to be effected. that's why such hike in rentals.

OneIndia is truly not going to benifit for average users.