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NEWS
Continuing
its price war in the cellular services by MTNL
 Continuing
its price war in the cellular services, state-owned Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam (MTNL) on Monday launched its pre-paid card--
Trump, priced at up to 50 per cent less than cards by private
players in Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL would charge Rs 2.50 per
minute for an outgoing call against Rs 5 being charged by
private players (Airtel and Essar) in Delhi and Rs 1.90 a
minute in Mumbai against Rs 1.99 being charged by BPL and
Orange Talk. The pulse rate will be 30 seconds in Delhi and
60 seconds in Mumbai.
While the incoming calls on Trump card would cost Rs 1.80
a minute compared to Rs 3 being charged by private players
in Delhi, in Mumbai they would cost Rs 1.75 as against Rs
1.99 by private players.
Launching the card here, Communication and IT Minister Pramod
Mahajan also announced nearly double the talk time offered
by MTNL on its Trump card. On a denomination of Rs 300 coupon,
the customer would get talk time worth Rs 205 compared to
Rs 185 being offered by private players, while on Rs 500 denomination
the talk time would be Rs 396 as against Rs 337 by private
players in Delhi.
In Mumbai, the talk time on Rs 300 and Rs 500 cards would
be Rs 182 and Rs 340 compared to Rs 86 and Rs 251 respectively
offered by the private players. Even as activation charges,
the initial payment to get pre-paid cards activated, MTNL
would be charging upto Rs 100 less than existing cards. MTNL
has fixed the activation charges at Rs 399 in Delhi as against
Rs 495, and Rs 225 against Rs 249 in Mumbai, being charged
by private players, Mahajan added.
On a pre-paid card of Rs 1000, MTNL has offered talk time
worth Rs 820 in Delhi as against Rs 722 being offered by Airtel
and Essar. In Mumbai, the talk time would be Rs 730 on a Rs
1,000 card compared to Rs 702 of BPL or Orange. Similarly,
for Rs 2000 card the talk time would be Rs 1710 in Delhi and
Rs 1500 in Mumbai. Mahajan said the Trump customers would
also get value added services such as calling line identification,
call waiting, call holding, call diversion and short messaging
service (SMS) without any additional cost. Asked whether there
was a possibility of cartelisation by the private players
prior to MTNL's entry, Mahajan said, "I would not like
to analyse this because the level of investment may be different
at two times but I hope that they also respond similarly."
"All pre-paid customers shall have STD and ISD facility
that can be used as long as the minimum balance amount on
the card is Rs 20," the minister said, adding that the
introduction of Trump would ensure that a large number of
people would be able to use mobile phones at affordable prices.
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