MTNL offers Internet telephony in 168 countries >From Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) Wednesday launched its Internet telephony facilities in 168 countries, making it possible to make telephone calls to the U.S. for Rs. 4.80 per minute. The move, which will allow subscribers to make phone calls from an Internet connection to a regular phone or a mobile, will make overseas calls a lot cheaper. A call using MTNL's "Bol-Anmol" facility will cost just Rs.4.80 a minute to the U.S. as against the normal Rs.24 a minute charged for an international phone call, said Narinder Sharma, chairman and managing director of MTNL. MTNL tariffs for the U.S., Britain, Canada, Singapore, Japan and Australia will be Rs.4.80 a minute from PC to phone, while they will be Rs.8 for New Zealand. The tariff is in addition to Internet usage and local telephone charges as applicable. The only must for the MTNL Netphone service to function is a computer with Internet facilities. Initially, MTNL's Internet telephony will be available in Delhi and Mumbai. Once it receives the licence to start services through its 100 percent subsidiary Millennium Telecom in other state capitals, it hopes to extend the facility to other locations. Using "Bol-Anmol" pre-paid cards in denominations of Rs.210, Rs.525 and Rs.1,050, users can utilise the services even overseas, Sharma said. In April, India legalised Net telephony, which has been in vogue in the country for some time without any telecom company earning revenue from it. The tariffs to other destinations will differ according to arrangements at the receiving end, Sharma said. MTNL has tied up with two international Internet service majors -- Media Ring and Net2Phone -- for receiving data and reconverting it to voice at the receiving end. Targeting mainly the small and medium business and Internet savvy customers, MTNL sees the new service as a means to "retain the creamy layer of our customer base in Mumbai and Delhi where we are facing competition from other telecom service providers," said Sharma. P.K. Saha, MTNL's general manager marketing, said: "For people depending solely on data, this service will provide the means to change over to voice, which for businesses could mean real-time interaction with the ounterparts overseas at a low cost." MTNL subsidiary Millennium Telecom, an 'A' category Internet Service Provider in India, is hopeful of getting the licence to launch the service across the country in a month. MTNL currently has 150,000 Internet subscribers in Delhi and an equal number in Mumbai. For users who do not have Internet accounts, MTNL has introduced 'Internet Express Service' whereby customers can go online using a post-paid service. Even those without MTNL's Internet or telephone connections in Delhi and Mumbai will be able to use the new service from any cyber café with prepaid cards, said MTNL officials. "Notwithstanding the competition, depending on how the people accept the new service, we hope to expand our market size by 25-30 percent," said Sharma. MTNL officials admit voice quality on the new service currently may not be the same as with normal phones. They hope to get the required bandwidth for faster Internet connectivity in three to four months after which there will be considerable improvement. -Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=- To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet ================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
