Budmaas
October 20th, 2003, 11:33 AM
Canada and Europe by 55 to 70 %
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, India's biggest phones firm, has cut call rates to the United States, Canada and Europe by 55 to 70 percent as part of a month-long festival offer.
The state-own firm said in a statement on Monday a one-minute call to the United States, Canada and continental Europe will cost 9.60 rupees a minute and 7.20 rupees a minute to the UK from October 22.
Calls to these countries cost 24 rupees a minute during peak hours and 21.18 rupees a minute during off-peak hours.
The new rates will run until November 21 as part of its offer for Diwali. India's long-distance calls market is estimated at $1.5 billion a year.
BSNL, formed in October 2000 after the government privatised the state-owned phones department, has an 85 percent share of India's booming telecoms market.
It offers a range of services, including fixed-line, mobile, Internet access and long-distance services across the country, except New Delhi and Bombay.
A monopoly until the mid-1990s, when the government threw open the industry to private companies, BSNL competes with Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, the Indian unit of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and several other firms
:clap: Yahoo India (http://in.news.yahoo.com/031020/137/28nqt.html)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, India's biggest phones firm, has cut call rates to the United States, Canada and Europe by 55 to 70 percent as part of a month-long festival offer.
The state-own firm said in a statement on Monday a one-minute call to the United States, Canada and continental Europe will cost 9.60 rupees a minute and 7.20 rupees a minute to the UK from October 22.
Calls to these countries cost 24 rupees a minute during peak hours and 21.18 rupees a minute during off-peak hours.
The new rates will run until November 21 as part of its offer for Diwali. India's long-distance calls market is estimated at $1.5 billion a year.
BSNL, formed in October 2000 after the government privatised the state-owned phones department, has an 85 percent share of India's booming telecoms market.
It offers a range of services, including fixed-line, mobile, Internet access and long-distance services across the country, except New Delhi and Bombay.
A monopoly until the mid-1990s, when the government threw open the industry to private companies, BSNL competes with Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, the Indian unit of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and several other firms
:clap: Yahoo India (http://in.news.yahoo.com/031020/137/28nqt.html)