Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Telecommunications Marketing - Rural Marketing Web Extras - Promotions & Offers Pvt mobile operators offer discounts to rural subscribers Our Bureau New Delhi, April 21 With no burden of having to pay access deficit charges anymore, private cellular operators have announced discounts worth Rs 125 to all new mobile subscribers in the rural areas. The move comes after the telecom regulator had done away with the access charges on the condition that mobile companies should pass on the benefit to subscribers. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had said that mobile companies should come out with a scheme for rural subscribers as the subsidy burden on the operators had been removed. In the first phase of the programme, 50 millions new rural subscribers are expected to get benefit from the discounted rates. The scheme is expected to result in a net outgo of around Rs 625 crore for the entire industry over the next nine months. The cellular industry had gained nearly Rs 700 crore from TRAI’s decision to abolish ADC. Announcing the initiative, the cellular operators said that this was aimed at providing thrust to rural telephony in order to help achieve the Government’s target. The programme has been developed under the aegis of COAI and AUSPI, the industry associations for GSM and CDMA mobile service providers, respectively, and all the member operators of these associations will be participating in the programme.
Mr S.C. Khanna, Secretary-General, AUSPI, said, “With effect from May 1, 2008, the mobile service providers would give each new rural subscriber an upfront discount of Rs 50 on the tariff package and further an amount of Rs 75 would be passed on as free talktime in two or three instalments spread over six to nine months.” Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, COAI, said that this would strongly incentivise both the take-up as well as the usage of mobile service in rural areas. “The ‘Rural Chalo’ programme is yet another demonstration of the continuing commitment of the mobile operators to give their consumers, especially those in the rural areas, world class services at the most affordable tariffs,” he said. Mobile buzz: It gets louder in the rural areas TRAI mulls lower mobile charges for rural areas Pvt telecom operators vying for rural areas More Stories on : Telecommunications | Rural Marketing | Promotions & Offers | Rural Development
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