Four cellular operators -- BPL Mobile, Escotel, RPG Cellular and Spice Telecom -- have formed an alliance, MobileFirst, in a bid to rope in at least 6 million subscribers, paving the way for another tariff war.

"The alliance will offer special tariffs for national and international calls, offer roaming facility and provide value-added services like mobile Internet access and mobile payments," BPL Mobile president and CEO F B Cardoso told reporters at the launch of MobileFirst  in Mumbai on Wednesday.

MobileFirst, which is an operational alliance rather than a merger, will shortly roll out its special tariff packages, RPG Cellular managing director Dilip R Mehta said.  

Escotel CEO Rajan Swaroop said that the alliance has a total of 3 million subscribers in over 700 cities, with a telecommunication backbone of over 10,000 km in India.

"This will help in negotiating better deals with international and national long distance operators, including Data Access and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, he added.

Cardoso said that the Indian cellular industry is growing at around 100 per cent per annum and the alliance expects to garner a minimum of 25 per cent share of the total market, which would be around 6 million subscribers by the end of the year.

The members of the alliance would also pool in their resources for the brand-building exercise of MobileFirst, he said, adding that they were in talks with other providers for strategic tie-ups where its members do not have services.