Close on the heels of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd slashing its international tariffs, the state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Wednesday announced a 40 per cent reduction in ISD rates to the United States and Europe for a month, as part of a festive offer.

"As a festive offer, MTNL has decided to reduce their international call rates to US and Europe for one month. The new tariff will be a flat rate of Rs 14.40 per minute, all days of the week, effective from midnight of October 23-24, 2003," an MTNL statement said in New Delhi.

It said the move would enable MTNL's customers of basic, cellular and WLL services to take benefit of a 40 per cent reduction offer during the festival season.