Now, roaming at just 1 paisa per sec

NEW DELHI: Intensifying the tariff war in mobile telephony, Tata DoCoMo, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices, on Sunday extended its

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one-paisa-per-second billing scheme to roaming calls, regardless of the network or type of phone. Tatas' new tariff plan, starting Monday, is likely to trigger a rate war in the roaming segment as it did for local and STD calls in June this year. That customers lapped it up was reflected in the addition of the maximum number of subscribers to the Tata Teleservices network among all operators in the last three months. The popularity of the per-second tariff forced most operators to cut local call rates to a paisa per second. While the war has started affecting their profitability, the competition has left consumers laughing their way to the bank. Says Tata DoCoMo president Deepak Gulati, “We are delighted to announce yet another industry-defying offer to our subscribers - a transparent and pack-free roaming tariff plan of one paisa per second for all incoming and outgoing calls, both local and long distance, to all networks and types of phones (mobile or landline).” The pay per-second tariff war gets a new leverage with Tata DoCoMo launching its plan to roaming services. Though a one paisa-per second tariff translates to 60 paise per minute and hence works out to be more expensive to a 50 paise-per minute tariff, in actual use it will prove more economical. This is because in a 50 paise-per minute plan, one has to pay 50 paise even if a call is for 20 seconds. Similarly, if one makes a call for 70 seconds, he will have to pay for two calls. But, in the case of a pay-per second plan, one has to pay for the duration of the call. The Tata move was preceded by Bharti Airtel, which on Friday launched a billing scheme that slashed roaming rates by nearly 60%.
POSTED BY:
PALLAVI SINGH
PGDM III SEM