Telecom price war -- MTNL slashes STD rates

State-owned telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam [Get Quote] -- telecom service provider in Mumbai and Delhi circles -- has slashed domestic long-distance (STD) rates by 66 per cent with immediate effect.

The STD calls made from landline and Garuda (CDMA service) will now be levied at Rs 1.20 per minute, a reduction of 66.66 per cent, as against the existing rate of Rs 2 per minute.

STD calls made from Dolphin (GSM service), Trump (pre-paid) and Garuda would cost Rs 1.30 per minute, MTNL said in a release here today.

In case of MTNL landline, STD charges will be even lower at 80 paise per minute. However, the reduced tariffs are not applicable for public call offices (PCOs).

Meanwhile, GSM major Vodafone Essar has launched a new scheme that enables customers to make calls anywhere in India -- local or STD -- at Re 1 per minute. The service is available to both pre- and post-paid customers at a monthly rental of only Rs 31.

Earlier, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications [Get Quote] introduced unlimited STD on its network at Rs 440 a month for post-paid and Rs 496 pre-paid users. The country's leading operator Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] has cut long distance and roaming tariffs by up to 43 per cent.