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MTNL to revise cellular tariff; begin WLL service in Delhi soon

State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is all set to execute its CDMA-WLL service in New Delhi very shortly with lower rental rates at Rs 400 as against those fixed by the TRAI. It will also announce new tariffs for its cellular service, Dolphin.

"We have already set up the main switch in Nehru Place and 30 other stations in the NCT region," K H Khan chief general manager MTNL, Delhi, said on the sidelines of the

CommunicAsia in Singapore on Wednesday.

The target segment would be housewives who like to talk a lot and now can do so while being mobile. The handset will be provided by MTNL at an interest-free deposit, at Rs 10,000, he added.

Meanwhile, the poor response to MTNL's cellular service -- Dolphin -- has led the PSU to ready a new tariff package, which will be announced in a day or two.

"Our competitors have been here for the past four years. It will take us time to come to that level," he added. However, another official said that infrastructure has to be strengthened, before embarking on a high growth plan.

Pre-paid cards, increasing the base stations, provision of roaming and a good billing system have to be taken care of first, he pointed out.

The company has set up about 120 of the planned 147 base stations in Delhi. However, the initial plan was to set up 207 BTS this year.

"If we get four to five things out of our way then the problem of dropped calls and network congestion will be solved," he said, adding MTNL has prepared 5-7 packages which would be announced only once the infrastructure is in place.

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