Taking mobile tariffs to a new low, telecom service provider Uninor, a joint venture between Unitech and Norwegian firm Telenor, on Frday announced call charges as low as 20 paise per minute.
Uninor has introduced a concept of dyanamic pricing under which its subscribers can avail discounts of between five to 60 per cent, depending on their location.
Telenor has a 67.25 per cent stake in the company, while Unitech holds the remaining equity. The offer, dubbed the 24/7 Badalta discount plan, will be initially available to Uninor users in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Under the plan, subscribers will get changing discounts on their calls based on traffic on the network. This means a one-minute call could cost as low as 20 paisa and never more than 50 paisa.|
"The new plan will not only help customers make significant savings on their bills, it will also help us utilise our network capacity better, which will help in traffic growth and revenue growth," Rohit Chandra, executive vice-president (Operations), Uninor said.
The plan is being launched at a time when tariffs are already at rock bottom. Call rates in India are as low as one paise per second.
With new players entering a market where half a dozen telecom players are already jostling for space, the tariff war has started showing up on the balance sheets of the telcos.
Market leader Bharti, caught in a margin-chomping price war, had posted a 8 per cent drop in January-March profit, its first fall in the last three yaers. Bharti had said going forward, the propensity to drop prices looks very bleak. But with Uninor launching this new scheme, it seems there is room for tariffs to drop further.
The company holds a pan-India license to offer mobile telephony services in each of Indias 22 circles. It has also received spectrum to roll out services in 21 of the 22 circles.
At present, Uninor's services are available in the eight circles of UP (West), UP (East), Bihar, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
