In a move that could trigger another tariff war among mobile operators, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication on Sunday launched GSM services in Mumbai and offered free talk-time worth Rs 900 spread over three months.
"New subscribers would get Rs 10 talk-time every day for the first 90 days and has offered tariffs of Re one a minute for local calls and STD would cost Rs 1.50 per minute on any network," Dinesh Gulati, head of Western region, said.
After consuming Rs 10 during the day, the subscribers can use top up cards with denominations ranging between Rs 10 to Rs 500 with the same tariffs.
When contacted Ambani told PTI, "In 2003, Reliance changed the face of the telecom sector in India. Through our nationwide GSM launch coupled with company's continued focus on our number one CDMA Network, we will once again endeavour to re-write the rules of the industry by offering an unbeatable coverage, quality services and above all the value for their money."
Over and above the free-talk time, the Reliance GSM customers will get unlimited calling on Reliance network (both GSM and CDMA) absolutely free between 10 PM to 6 AM through out Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, giving access to seven million Reliance phones in the region.
The new GSM SIM cards would be available for Rs 25 with a validity of six months, Gulati said, adding the initial plan has been designed keeping in mind the subscribers in sub-Rs 300 mobile expenses.
He said the company was working out various other pre-paid tariff plans and would announce during the next three months.
RCom is the first telecom company in the country which is offering mobile services on both GSM and CDMA platform.
Ambani had launched GSM services last week in 11,000 towns across the country. The services would be extended to 22,000 towns in the next few months.
The company claimed to have put in over Rs 10,000 crore investment to build the state-of-the-art network with edge enabled mobile services, which can offer much faster speed while downloading the contents and live TV coverage.
"In a short span of 11 months, Reliance Mobile has created a GSM network in Mumbai whose coverage and capabilities are superior to GSM networks that have been in existence for 15 years," Gulati said.
The first-of-its-kind tariff scheme has been launched for low-end users as 90 per cent of the existing pre-paid subscribers spend less than Rs 300 a month on mobile expenses, he said, adding the free talk-time worth Rs 900 would translate into monthly saving of Rs 300 for new customers.