MTNL’s call rates between Delhi and Mumbai to tumble

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) on Tuesday launched its long distance services between Delhi and Mumbai, opting for Tata-owned VSNL as its preferred carrier for STD calls — a move that could bring down call rates while badly hitting Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

The new rates to be announced shortly would come into effect from June 1. Till now, BSNL was MTNL’s carrier for long distance calls and was charging higher rate for the service.Three private telecom operators — Bharti, Reliance Infocomm and Tatas owned VSNL — have bid for MTNL’s Rs 60 tender for carrying and delivery of outgoing STD calls across the nation.

BSNL, which was till now the preffered carrier being a PSU, has skipped participating in the bidding process.

When contacted MTNL CMD R.S.P. Sinha confirmed receipt of bids from the three private operators.