Reliance Communications increases call tariffs by 20%

Reliance Communications, a part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, has increased call tariffs for its CDMA and GSM connections by 20 per cent in selected circles, officials said.

"The tariff has been increased from 1 paisa to 1.2 paise per second in most of the circles," a senior executive said.

While for GSM customers the hike has been implemented on both calls made from Reliance to Reliance network as well as other networks, for CDMA customers the change will be effective only for calls made from Reliance to other networks.

Last month Bharti Airtel, increased its tariffs, thus giving a break to the cut-throat competition among telecom operators offering dirt cheap tariffs. The telecom giant was followed by Idea Cellular andVodafone.

Idea increased its tariff from 1 paisa per second to 1.2 paisa per second for calls made from Idea to other networks, including both local and STD calls, in the Delhi region under the per second billing scheme.

The operator had so far been offering its customers 1 paisa per second billing plan for local and STD calls made from Idea to Idea network as well as from Idea to other networks.

With the entry of new players and the ensuing tariff wars, the high priced bidding for 3G (third generation) auctions, which saw top operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communicationscoughing up Rs 12,295 crore and Rs 8,583 crore respectively, had led to margins being hammered.

Bharti had paid an additional Rs 3,314 crore for acquiring BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum as well.