NEW DELHI: Reliance Communication (RCOM) launched a per-second billing plan on Tuesday, days after intensifying price competition pushed sector
leader Bharti Airtel into offering a similar scheme.
RCOM, India’s second-largest mobile operator, will charge 1 paise per second for all local and national calls, a spokesman said. Top operators are facing tough competition from smaller rivals, including a venture of Tata Teleservices and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo that has grabbed market share with its per-second billing system.
The price war is set to intensify with four firms, including ventures of Norway’s Telenor and UAEs’ Etisalat, set to start operations in India this year. India has 11 mobile operators currently, and the industry has added an average of 14 million users per month this year.
Meanwhile, government wants a cut in the termination charges mobile phone companies pay each other for calls across networks, but operators must pass on the reduction by lowering charges. Termination charges are set and modified by an independent regulator, and the ministry’s call is not binding.
“Termination charges can be reduced by 2010, accordingly tariffs can be reduced,” telecom minister Andimuthu Raja told reporters on Tuesday after meeting heads and other senior officials of mobile operators.
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