Reliance Communications mulls per-second billing

India's second-biggest private telecom company, Reliance Communications, said it is evaluating whether it should join rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar in offering a ''per-second billing'' tariff option to its customers.

''Per-second billing is another option we have evaluated internally. We are keeping all our other options open as well,'' said Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group managing director Satish Seth.

He told analysts in a conference call that R-Com's 'simply Reliance' plan is the best even when compared to the per second tariff plans offered by rivals. Last month, R-Com joined the mobile tariff war by announcing a 50 paise per minute plan.

Experts tracking the telecom sector say in a market where the average revenue per user is already among the lowest, such tariff pressures will impact profitability. ''Per second billing is the most you can break down the call rates-there's nothing much you can do beyond that,'' The Economic Times quoted an unnamed financial analyst.

R-Com, which has around 84.11 million mobile subscribers, reported a 51 per cent drop in net profit to Rs740 crore for the quarter ended September.

Lower and attractive tariff plans are helping phone firms such as Tata Teleservices gain market share. In August, Tata Teleservices added 3.4 million new subscribers, ahead of Bharti Airtel and other rivals. New telecom entrants Etisalat, Swan, Aircel and Telenor-Unitech are under pressure to respond with more lucrative tariff plans in order to compete better with incumbent phone firms.