Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Cell operators slash roaming rates by 33% Our Bureau
New Delhi , April 26 THERE'S good news for mobile users. Cellular operators, including Airtel, Hutch and Idea Cellular, on Tuesday dropped roaming charges from Rs 3 a minute to Rs 1.99 a minute. The move came just a few hours after the Union Minister for Communication and IT, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, urged operators to do away with roaming charges. "The reduction in roaming tariffs is Bharti's contribution towards the vision of `One India' and lower roaming tariffs, envisaged by Mr Dayanidhi Maran," said a Bharti statement. Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd offers cellular services in 23 circles under the Airtel brand name. The new roaming tariffs will come into effect on May 1. Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group Managing Director, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, " This reduction in the roaming rate will expand the roaming community in India and help realise the vision of 200 million mobile subscribers by 2007." Hutch said that the new roaming tariffs would deliver significant value to cellular users and the timing of the drop was appropriate, considering the forthcoming summer vacation when a large proportion of subscribers would be holidaying away from their homes. Earlier speaking at the Cellular Summit 2005, Mr Maran said that private cellular operators must reduce the roaming charges. "Mobile charges for roaming are very, very high, I think they should be much lower than existing rates. BSNL does not charge for roaming. Why can't the private operators take this initiative to bring them down?" he asked.
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