India heading for cheaper long distance calls

NEW DELHI: Commending the growth in the telecom sector and sharp decline in long distance tariffs, the Economic Survey on Friday said that India may witness a tariff pattern as that in the developed world where subscribers pay a single price per unit be it local or STD calls.

"Given the introduction of competition in National Long Distance and consequent drop in prices, tariff package, which are competitive by world standards, may now appear in India," the survey said.

Suggesting more pro-competitive policies and strengthening of regulator TRAI, the pre-budget economic report card of the government said "in countries like the US, mobile telephony subscription packages typically bundle airtime with NLD consumption into a single price per minute of airtime where the consumer does not differentiate between local calls and NLD calls.

However, it expressed concern that Indian subscribers were still made to pay much higher for the international calls.

The Survey said that there has been a dramatic fall in the tariffs due to increased competition and the tariffs for local calls have fallen considerably in recent months particularly for cellular and WLL.