Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has slashed pulse rates by up to a third, making landline calls costlier for its subscribers in the commercial capital of the country.
The State-owned telecom service provider joins a host of telecom operators, who have either withdrawn freebies, or increased tariffs due to falling revenues.
MTNL has reduced pulse rates for Mumbai, effective February 11, 2013, according to company officials.
Two circles
MTNL has only operations in two circles — Mumbai and Delhi — while the rest of the country is serviced by the other State-owned operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).
MTNL has about 35 lakh wireline customers, of which, about 19 lakh are in Mumbai.
Pulse rates from MTNL’s landlines to other local landline networks has been reduced by a third to 60 seconds from the existing 180 seconds, while the company has halved pulse rates to 90 seconds (from 180 seconds) for calls from landlines to MTNL local mobiles.
The pulse rates to its Delhi landline and mobile network have also been halved to 90 seconds, while pulse rates to landlines (between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.) have been reduced to 180 seconds (from 300 seconds earlier).
What is Pulse rate?
Pulse rate is a measure of the duration of a call for billing purposes. For example, 90 seconds (now for calls from landlines to MTNL local mobiles) would be now considered as one unit, or one call.