Calling the shots
By Praveen Chandran | 06 Apr 2002
Now
the latest. Following the trend set in national long-distance
call charges, international long-distance (ILD) call charges
are also expected to fall rapidly in the coming days
by over 50 per cent by the end of April 2002. Whats more,
several ILD players are working on strategies to face
competition from net telephony.
With international call charges expected to be in the
range of Rs 5 to Rs 10 per minute through the Internet
telephony medium, ILD players will be bound to rework
their strategies and reduce their call charges in order
to protect their market-share in the price-sensitive Indian
market, say industry sources.
With the ILD sector now open to competition, the sources
maintain that ISD charges are bound to drop, though the
margin may not be substantial. "The government has
subsidised local charges with long-distance national and
international charges. This should be reviewed immediately
to give a level-playing field to all telecom players,"
says a telecom association official.
Dilip
Chenoy, a member of the Confederation of Indian Industrys
telecom committee, says international call charges are
expected to fall substantially over the next few weeks.
"Call charges are bound to fall with competition
happening in the ILD sector. But with most private players
yet to a start their networks, the real competition can
only be witnessed by the end of this month."
At
present international call charges are in the range of
Rs 18 to Rs 22 for the SAARC region, and Rs 32 to Rs 40
for the rest of the world. These charges may drop by over
50 per cent soon, the sources believe. Chenoy thinks the
overseas call tariff for most destinations may very soon
fall to Rs 20 per minute.
Already, international call charges have dropped by 10
to 15 per cent in certain sectors. Birla Tata AT&T
has announced a 21-per cent drop in ISD charges made from
any AT&T mobile. Other big players like Bharti and
Reliance that have got ILD licences are expected to drop
ISD prices after their networks are ready for a rollout.
Bharti had started the price war by dropping domestic
long-distance charges by 50 per cent that was matched
by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which announced a 60-per
cent fall in long-distance charges.
"Internet telephony is significant for a market like
India, which is price sensitive. Irrespective of the quality,
if call charges are reduced most people will opt for it.
In this scenario, traditional telecom players will have
to be extra cautious in devising their pricing strategy,"
says a telecom expert.
Private Internet service providers (ISP), meanwhile, are
planning to launch attractive Internet telephony package
with their low-cost services. ISP players like DishnetDSL,
Satyam Infoway, Net4India and Caltiger are ready with
their telephony packages, which are expected to hit the
market by mid-April 2002.
Shyam Internet Services, an important player in Rajasthan,
is planning to launch its Internet telephony service soon.
A group with the holding company is examining the possibility
to enter this new area
of operation. The ISPs are expected to provide telephony
services through the Internet with offers for both pre-
and post-paid options.
The scope of services will be: computer-to-computer (both
within and outside India), PC to telephone (PC in India,
telephone outside), and IP-based H323/SIP terminals in
India to similar terminals (both in India and abroad).