Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has offered a 5-20 per cent discount to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) on incoming international long-distance calls (ILD), depending on the traffic volume.
The terms offered by MTNL is in variance with the 30 per cent discount offered by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to the Tata-controlled VSNL as part of the interconnection agreement signed earlier this month.
While BSNL has offered a flat discount of 30 per cent on incoming calls of more than 90 million minutes per month, MTNL will give a 5 per cent discount on 30-40 million minutes of incoming traffic per month, a 10 per cent discount on 40-50 million minutes, 15 per cent discount on 50-60 million minutes and a 20 per cent discount on traffic above 60 million minutes. The volume discount will also not exceed 10 per cent of the gross revenue of MTNL from incoming international long-distance traffic.
VSNL has given a guarantee of at least 20 million minutes of incoming calls per month to MTNL, though no such guarantee has been given to BSNL. The interconnection agreement between BSNL, MTNL and VSNL was signed earlier this month after more than six months of negotiations.
BSNL and MTNL have also ensured that they get their share of the revenue from international long-distance calls irrespective of the tariffs set by the operator. As per the agreement with VSNL, both the public sector units (PSUs) will get a minimum of Rs 17 per minute for outgoing calls to the US and Europe, Rs 9 per minute for calls to Africa and West Asia, and Rs 14 per minute for calls to other parts of the world. This immunises the PSUs from any lowering of international long-distance tariffs by VSNL.
At the existing outgoing peak time rate of Rs 24 per minute, BSNL and MTNL get Rs 18 per minute for calls to the US and Europe, Rs 10 per minute for calls to Africa and West Asia and Rs 15 per minute for calls to the rest of the world. So even if VSNL brings down the tariffs to Rs 20 a minute, BSNL and MTNL will continue to get the specified minimum amount.
