RCOM heats up tariff war, launches 50 paise/minute plan

Intensifying the tariff war in the fast-growing telecom market, Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications has cut all call rates to 50 paise per minute flat across networks effective from Tuesday.

RCOM is the latest operator to cut tariff after Tata Teleservices launched per-second billing after launching its GSM services under brand name Tata DoCoMo in June. Bharti Airtel followed Tatas and introduced last month 50 paise per minute call rate for all local and national calls.

RCOM will offer a 50-paise-per-minute 'Simply Reliance Plan' on its CDMA and GSM networks to all pre-paid and post-paid users for local, STD and roaming calls.

"From tomorrow, every Indian consumer can enjoy up to 46 per cent saving in his monthly bill. There are no conditions applied. This is not one of those (plans) where we show a headline rate of 50 paise and the blended rate actually comes to three times the cost," Reliance Communications' Chief Marketing Officer, Personal Business, Nilanjan Mukherjee, told reporters in Mumbai.

To avail Simply Reliance plan, existing or new prepaid customers have to purchase one time special tariff voucher for Rs 48 to enjoy lifetime validity.

The new call rate would also be applicable on calls to any mobile -- CDMA or GSM -- and landline networks from anywhere in India.