Taking the competition from GSM players head on, Tata Teleservices's Virgin Mobile on Tuesday slashed STD rates on pre-paid services by half to 50 paise per minute from Re 1 per minute.
Virgin customers can now call any number, mobile or landline, across networks at 50 paise per minute only after the initial three minutes of the day.
The first three minutes of an STD call each day would cost Rs 1.50 paise per minute, while for rest of the day the long distance tariff would come down to just 50 paise per minute for maximum up to 30 minutes.
Similarly, for local calls, for first three minutes of the day calls would be at Re 1 per minute, then for the rest of the day the tariff would be 50 paise a minute.
"Against the industry norm of STD tariff of Re 1 per minute at an additional monthly commitment, new 50 p STD, local will provide the lowest all-India STD base tariff offer at no extra cost," Virgin Mobile India CEO M A Madhusudan said.
TTL's Virgin Mobile brand is national youth-focused mobile service. Virgin Mobile branded services are being offered to the Indian consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand franchise with Virgin.
With the introduction of the tariff, the company expects the usage rates of STD services to go up by 20-30 per cent which is likely to reflectin a 40 per cent rise revenue.
"The new tariff enjoys special significance given the fact that urban youth have a strong need for STD, which comprises around 25 per cent of their outgoing usage (in minutes) but importantly their spends on STD are as high as 50 per cent," he added.
The company declined to comment on its current subscriber base but said it is expected to be 10 per cent of the TTSL's subscribers by the third year of operation.
At present, the subscriber base of TTSL which offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the TATA Indicom brand has a customer base of over 28 million.
On offering services on the GSM platform, Madhusudan said " Right now we dont have any plans to do that. But our services are technology neutral and we can offer services on GSM as well."
Banking on the youth customers, Virgin Mobile has taken a number of initiatives to offer customised and relevant offerings for its youth audience to meet their style and budget quotient. Elaborating on the strategy of the company, Madhusudan said, Virgin Mobile wants to offer value and flexibility that meets the unique needs of urban youth.
‘New 50 Paise STD- local’ will provide the lowest all-India STD base tariff offer with no extra cost.
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