ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: U-fone mobile cellular service operator on Friday announced a cutback of Rs2 per minute on the current Rs5 per minute prepaid tariff on outgoing calls which will further come down by 50 per cent to Rs1.5 per minute between 10 pm to 7 am.

Effective from Saturday, the SMS rates would also register a 30 per cent decline from Rs1.50 to Rs1 for each message sent by prepaid customers. This was announced by U-fone's president Babar Khan.

Federal Minister for Telecommunication, Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, who was present at the briefing, said a competitive environment had been created as a result of successful telecommunication deregulation policy of the government.