 "Telcos to cut roaming tariffs from May 1, as per Trai norms")
Call rates while on roaming, both incoming and outgoing, will be cheaper by 23-40 per cent, and SMS by up to 75 per cent for most operators.
Earlier this month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had reduced the ceiling rates allowed for national roaming calls and SMS. It had told service providers to offer revised roaming rates with effect from May 1.
The regulator had cut the maximum rate an operator could charge for STD (national) calls on roaming to Rs 1.15 a minute from Rs 1.5. Similarly, the national SMS rate was reduced to 38p from Rs 1.50 each. Also, an operator could charge a maximum of 25p for a local SMS instead of Re 1 and a maximum 80p a minute for a local call instead of Re 1. For incoming calls on roaming, a ceiling of 45p a minute was fixed from the earlier 75p permitted.
According to experts, all the companies have reduced their roaming rates similarly and not below the maximum allowed by Trai.
“There would be some impact on telcos’ revenues but this might be offset by increase in usage by subscribers while on roaming. Will have to wait for a few quarters to see the actual impact,” a Mumbai-based analyst said.
Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile operator, said its incoming call rates would reduce by up to 40 per cent on roaming; outgoing inter-circle call rates will be lower by up to 23 per cent. Outgoing local call rates will come down by up to 20 per cent. It did not provide the current and revised levels but sources said the rates during roaming were the same for all operators.
Vodafone subscribers will pay 45p/minute instead of the earlier 75p for receiving calls outside the home network, down by 40 per cent. Outgoing local and STD calls will be charged at 80p and Rs 1.15 a minute, as compared to Re 1 and Rs 1.50, respectively earlier. Similarly, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications reduced roaming call rates by 40 per cent.
As per the revised tariffs for roaming, Idea will now offer incoming calls at just 45 paise/minute, a reduction of 40 per cent. Outgoing Local call rates have been reduced by 20 per cent and STD call rates by 23 per cent. Local SMS will now be available for just 25 paise and STD SMS for just 38 paise on roaming nationally.
Hemant Joshi, partner, Deloitte, said: “The revised roaming tariffs will help subscribers but would impact the profitability of telcos. Due to OTT players, the revenue from SMS was reducing anyway and this would further hit revenue.”