Cellular price wars begin?

CHANDIGARH, April 30: With the fixing of cellular tariffs by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI, a price war seems to have begun in the region with cellular operators dropping their rates. Spice Telecom, the cellular operator for the Punjab telecom circle today announced three schemes for charging subscribers. It announced that Rs 3 per minute would be charged for an incoming call in one of the its schemes, while the TRAI has suggested Rs 6 per minute. Similarly, Essar Cellphone has announced new concessional rates for its subscribers in Haryana.

Three new tariff patterns announced by Spice come into effect from May 1. According to a Press statement issued by the managing director Sean Dexter, the first scheme has a monthly rental of Rs 600 with an outgoing airtime rate of Rs 6 per minute and an incoming rate of Rs 3 per minute. Another scheme offers a monthly rental of Rs 350, though its airtime charges are higher.

The rates offered by Essar Cellphone have also been fixed according to three patterns. In one of the rate schedules, the incoming and outgoing calls during concessional hours have been fixed at Rs 3 per minute. Another rate pattern offers first three minutes of cellular call as free, but charges a subsequent rate of Rs 4 per minute for incoming calls during standard hours, and two rupees during concessional hours.

Meanwhile, Escotel, the cellular operator for Western UP, Haryana and Kerala has announced that there shall be no significant change in the tariff plans from May 1. In effect, the monthly service rental, airtime rates and time bands shall remain unchanged.