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| 17 July 2004 | Saturday | 28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
International call charges, connection fee reduced
ISLAMABAD, July 16: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on Friday unveiled a new tariff package from August 14 to provide free late-night local calls
and cut installation charges by 44 per cent and international call charges to Rs20 per minute.
"The package, applicable from Aug 14, 2004, will not only provide relief to the common man but also help in exploiting untapped potential of the market besides enhancing the PTCL's reach," Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari told a news conference.
Free local calls within a city will be available from midnight to 6am, he said. Instead of varying rates for international calls a flat rate of Rs20 per minute has been fixed for all countries of the world. Earlier, Rs21.75 per minute used to be charged for Saarc countries, Iran and Turkey and Rs26.08 for other countries.
The minister said the decision to provide reliable telecommunication services at affordable prices had been taken at a July 13 meeting of the PTCL Board. It would also help alleviate people's problems.
PTCL President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jonaid I. Khan, who was also present, when asked about the financial impact of the new package, said that the new initiative would have a positive impact with a definite upsurge in the profitability of the PTCL.
Explaining salient features of the package, Mr Leghari said telephone installation charges had been slashed from Rs1,350 to Rs750 plus a 15 per cent general sales tax (GST) in urban areas while the recently introduced charges of Rs500 would continue to be operational in the rural areas.
The minister said he was confident that lower installation charges would enhance tele-density as reduction in connection charges for rural areas had witnessed a growth of telephone connections by 300 per cent.
While local calls between midnight till 6a.m. will be free of charge, Internet dialup and premium service calls, irrespective of the distance, will continue to cost as much as now.
About the nation-wide calls, the minister said the rates for distances between 80-160 km and beyond 160 km during prime time (7:30am to 6:30pm) had been reduced to Rs4.25 from Rs5.65 and to Rs5.25 from Rs7.39 per minute respectively.
He said rates of average international outgoing calls had been reduced to Rs20 from Rs26 per minute (24 per cent). The minister said reduced tariffs would attract more traffic, better utilization of the available capacity and add new customers at a faster rate.
All these reductions would be exclusive of the 15 per cent GST. These initiatives, he said, would also accelerate competition and result in the introduction of new service packages in a deregulated environment.
To promote the cause of higher education and to meet the long-standing needs pointed out by the High Education Commission (HEC), international Internet bandwidth charges for institutions and universities connected with the Pakistan Educational Research Network (PERN)) had been reduced to $2,500 per month.
To promote the use of Internet in the country and increase in software exports, the bandwidth prices had been substantially reduced for Internet service providers (ISPs), software companies and for companies providing IT-enabled services.
Giving details, Mr Leghari said that for ISPs the rate of bandwidth had been reduced to $905 from $1,240 (27 per cent) per month for 256K, to $1,548 from $2,120 for 512K, to $2,628 from $3,600 for 1,024K, to $3,950 from $5,400 for 2MB, to $12,675 from $19,500 for 8MB, and to $46,800 from $72,000 for 34MB.
For IT-enabled services, call centres and software exports, monthly bandwidth tariffs have been reduced to $728 from $1,120 for 256K, to $1,242 from $1,910 for 512K, to $2,126 from $3,270 for 1,24K, to $3,500 from $5,400 for 2MB, to $11,700 from $19,500 for 8MB and to $43,200 from $72,000 for 34MB.
Local call charges for 0800 service for call centres have also been reduced by 15 per cent. "Telephone will be no more a political or economic issue in coming days because of a large number of telephone operators and quality services," the minister said.
He said a bandwidth reduction broadband policy would also be announced soon under which dedicated service line (DSL) and broadband connectivity would be provided at lower rates.
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