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Bangalore , Aug. 8

TOUCHTEL, the Bharti Group's fixed line service provider, has launched a slew of products and services that includes a pre-paid virtual calling card for domestic phones.

Touchtel Chief Operating Officer for Karnataka Mr Prem Pradeep told Business Line that the pre-paid cards allows customers to make calls through Touchtel phones anywhere in the country. He said the company is also planning to launch SMS on fixed line. The subscriber will have to buy a separate instrument for accessing this service.

Mr Pradeep said Touchtel has also introduced an audio-conferencing facility called, `Meet Express'. If a company books a permanent port, the executives can dial into an audio bridge to commence the meeting. "It is a good product for the medium-sized companies," he said.

Mr Pradeep said Touchtel has a subscriber base of around 50,000 in Karnataka, which is expected to go up to around a lakh in six months. "We are at the end of phase one now and during the next phase, we will focus on expansion through launching our services in other cities and with value added services, we expect to penetrate deeper," Mr Pradeep said.

Touchtel earlier had said that it plans to invest up to Rs 150 crore over a two-year period for installing digital subscriber line (DSL) connections across Bangalore.

Mr Pradeep said some of the major residential areas in the city has already been covered. For the last mile connectivity, Touchtel has so far spent Rs 200 crore. It plans to invest another 50 crore during the current financial year.

Mr Pradeep said Touchtel has launched three new tariff plans for subscribers in Karnataka that makes DSL extremely affordable. He said under these schemes, a subscriber can simultaneously use the Internet and receive and make calls over the phone. He said under the dial-up Internet service, the telephone line gets blocked during surfing.

Under the new tariff plans, ZipNet Speed subscribers need to pay a fixed rental of Rs 200 and a onetime registration fee of Rs 1,000. The usage charge for 128 Kbps Internet access speed, will be Rs 30 per hour during the day and Rs 15 during the night. "Broadband connectivity would ensure much higher speeds to the consumer to surf the net or connect offices and run advanced applications," Mr Pradeep said.

Under the ZipNet Power, the subscriber needs to pay Rs 1,499 per month for DSL access charge with a registration fee of Rs 1,000. The subscriber gets free bundled usage of 50 hours or 350 MB.

The Charge for additional usage is Rs 20 per hour during the day and Rs 10 per hour during the night.

For ZipNet Cyber 128 plan, the registration fee is Rs 2,000 and DSl access charge is Rs 8,000 per month. The subscriber under this plan gets unlimited hours or unlimited data transfer.

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