Almost a month after the launch of Tata Indicom mobile service in Mumbai, Tata Teleservices has lowered its entry level tariff for its code division multiple access-enabled limited mobility service to below that of its arch rival Reliance Infocomm.

The Tata service will now be available at Rs 499 against Reliance's entry level offer of Rs 501.

While Reliance Infocomm took on the seasonal garb to lower its entry level tariff, the Tatas are marketing the move as a special offering in Maharashtra for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

YVL Pandit, chief operating officer, TTSL, said, "We are running a special offer for Ganesh Chaturthi. This offer is for limited period and is open only in Maharashtra."

Sources say that in Mumbai, the demand from Tata Teleservices has been more for handsets priced at the high end. This has resulted in the company running out of stock of certain handset models, and the current promotional offer is aimed at pushing volumes of certain handsets for the mass market.

Pandit said, "The arrangement is with the handset suppliers and we thought best to promote Motorola handset. At the moment, we are not lowering the entry level for other handsets."

But for now, the Tata group has taken a leaf out of Reliance Infocomm's plan to push its subscriber level.

Reliance Infocomm cornered a little over two million subscribers after it lowered its entry level to Rs 501 under the Monsoon Hungama plan. Reliance Infocomm has over three million subscribers across the country.

The Tata group has launched its wireless in local loop (WLL) limited mobility services in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik.