Dr.Gagan 17 Report post Posted August 28, 2006 Times News Network Thursday, August 24, 2006 01:55:35 AM Mobile users never had it so good. You can now make calls at just 15 paise a minute. Setting the ground for the next round of cellular tariff war, Bharti Airtel is set to offer local calls from Airtel to Airtel at 15 paise per minute, according to sources. Its GSM rival Hutchison Essar slashed call rates within the circle to 30 paise last week. Airtel has gone a step ahead to offer half the rates to its pre-paid as well as post-paid users. The rate of 15 paise per minute will be the lowest ever offered by any operator since the inception of mobile telephony in India in 1994. The move is expected to force other telcos, including Reliance Communications and BSNL to fall in line. Currently, Reliance to Reliance calls are charged at 40 paise per minute under some plans. Sources said Airtel’s new offer will be available to post-paid users under its Celebration 299 plan and Airtel Talktime 299 plan. It will also be available on BlackBerry 100 plan. Customers will have to pay an additional Rs 49 per month to use the service. Existing users in other post-paid plans will have to migrate to these schemes to make calls at 15 paise per minute. For the pre-paid category, new users recharging with Rs 350 voucher can make calls for 15 paise per minute without paying any extra charge for 60 days. Similarly, those opting for Innowest, 222 and 456 plans can make calls at the new rate for three months. However, existing pre-paid users will have to pay Rs 49 per month to convert to the new scheme, said sources. According to industry analysts, the reduction in tariffs is a logical outcome of increased competition and attempts to tap the vast user base, especially in rural India. “Also, since the calls are on their own networks, it is not a loss making proposition for telcos,” said an analyst. The move is also seen as an indication of the maturity of the Indian telecom market. “Some US operators charge a fixed rental for making unlimited calls within the network. This latest round of tariff cuts is expected to take India closer to the more mature telecom markets,” said the analyst. Here is the link http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1921126.cms Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gids 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2006 all my friends make airtel to airtel call at 10 paise... n wat bout rims 495 recharge which offers calls at 15p n free at nite? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vmsanghrajka 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2006 In mumbai circle, BPL has also started similar scheme of BPL-BPL calls for 10 paise/min only!!! ANIL AMBANI WAKE UP!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ashoksoft 83 Report post Posted August 28, 2006 its only inside mum .!! I went to the airtel gallery here to know about the details .... The calls have to be to a airtel mobile in Mumbai! not maharashtra / goa!!! on the other hand ... I've the Reliance which offers me unltd calls to RIM numbers in Mum-Mah-Goa!!! since I am having that pack active !! so now I've gifted me pal a RIM handset rather than the airtel wala PP. The funda is that on Airtel u can be on any PP - Just pay 49 / PM to get 15np Airtel 2 Airtel calls cheers ashok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ani_meher 42 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 new users recharging with Rs 350 voucher can make calls for 15 paise per minute without paying any extra charge for 60 days That's a good part. But the story is not accurate, Airtel is certainly not the first one since 1994 to introduce such low terriffs. How can they forget the 220/440 cards, even though they are stopped now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amtrag 20 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 new users recharging with Rs 350 voucher can make calls for 15 paise per minute without paying any extra charge for 60 days That's a good part. But the story is not accurate, Airtel is certainly not the first one since 1994 to introduce such low terriffs. How can they forget the 220/440 cards, even though they are stopped now? Absolutely...some people are still having onnet pack in postpaid for unlimited onnet calls. And 495 voucher already gives 15p at night...so airtel is neither first nor the only one to offer 15 p rates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abhay 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 (edited) In mumbai circle, BPL has also started similar scheme of BPL-BPL calls for 10 paise/min only!!! ANIL AMBANI WAKE UP!!! ANIL wakes up late dont u think its a lil bit expensive paying RS 49 for 15 ps / min !! on celebration 299 << the plan on which u get this option is already charging 50ps / min u have to have hell lot of call to airtel just to break even : ** if rental would have been around 25 or 30 then it would have been cooler Edited August 29, 2006 by abhay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puneet 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 dont u think its a lil bit expensive paying RS 49 for 15 ps / min !! on celebration 299 << the plan on which u get this option is already charging 50ps / minu have to have hell lot of call to airtel just to break even : Breakeven call time is 140 mins (for celebration 299). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 In Chennai/TN, a hutch customer can make unltd calls at Re0.10 to any Hutch number in Chennai/TN by using a Rs 75 RC voucher which will also change the tariffs to re 0.49 for all calls to any mobile across Chennai/TN, Rs 1.20 to all landlines across Chennai/TN and Rs 1.99 to any STD number across India. Plus you get 100 per day free local SMSs and anything above 100 will cost Re 0.20 per SMS, National SMS at Rs 1, Int. SMS at Rs 5, 3rd Party SMS at Rs 2. All of this is available at a daily rental of Rs 1 per day for 30 days only. Reliance needs to wake up and do something real fast now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shashank 8 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 The above tariff is really awsesome!Any such Hutch tariff in B'lore? BTW airtel's tariffs are the costliest,atleast in karnataka.Hutch really has cost effective plans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sanket55555 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 airtel(mumbai) is offering prepaid cards to govt employees(present), with call tariffs as below: airtel to airtel-10p airtel to other mobile-30p airtel to any LL-1.00p theres no special voucher, nothing just need to refill the connection with a Rs. 500 voucher which gives u validity for 3 months and Rs.351 as talktime, and in these 3 months u can use any of the top ups. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abhay 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 dont u think its a lil bit expensive paying RS 49 for 15 ps / min !! on celebration 299 << the plan on which u get this option is already charging 50ps / min u have to have hell lot of call to airtel just to break even : Breakeven call time is 140 mins (for celebration 299). see for a person like me its a waste of money !! i have a talk time of around 5 - 5.5 hrs a month but thats assorted not soo much for A2A (would be around 50 - 60 mins)!! better keep this factor in mind before migrating thx puneet for the calculation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kookaburra 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 airtel(mumbai) is offering prepaid cards to govt employees(present), with call tariffs as below:airtel to airtel-10p airtel to other mobile-30p airtel to any LL-1.00p theres no special voucher, nothing just need to refill the connection with a Rs. 500 voucher which gives u validity for 3 months and Rs.351 as talktime, and in these 3 months u can use any of the top ups. Can you tell me how to activate this plan? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sanket55555 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2006 @ kookaburra this scheme is not publicised at all, 1st u need to be a govt. employee 2nd u need to wait in a very very long queue to get it sorted out at the airtel town office 3rd its got to be a new connection Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
linuxguy 0 Report post Posted August 31, 2006 Nice but the rental is too high! I mean in Hutch, you need to pay 30 bucks which gives you 100 mins of free H2H calls and further H2H calls are billed at 30p. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shashank 8 Report post Posted August 31, 2006 Airtel plans are really foolish.They will introduce someuseless tariff and boast of that they are first/best/cheapest etc.But hutch's tariffs are really attractive. Rs.49/month is really a utter waste.Actually no body will opt for this, but they will fool the people by mentioning only the 15p part and pull in to the ditch. :'( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@ksh@T 20 Report post Posted September 2, 2006 well in punjab also u can make local rim calls at 10 paisa per min Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
