State Operator Mahangar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) launches India's first FREE INCOMING CALL service while Roaming. Before you jump with joy, let me clarify it-This service is only for MTNL’s Garuda CDMA Mobile service and Free incoming call facility will be provided only on MTNL own network area, like MTNL Delhi's Garuda-Cdma Mobile customers can get Free Incoming call facility while roaming in Mumbai and same will be applicable for MTNL Mumbai's Garuda- Cdma Mobile customers, they also can get FREE Incoming call facility while Roaming in MTNL Delhi Network area.This service will be provided without any extra charges and all the outgoing calls will be chargable at Rs.1 per call.
Earlier MTNL’s CDMA Mobile service was a limited mobile service, which provides mobility within the short distance charging area (SDCA) and comes bundled with the CDMA handset as well as CDMA RUIM. With private sector telecom operators providing CDMA-based services with full mobility under the unified access service licence (UASL), the limited mobility offering by MTNL has lost its sheen. Since MTNL does not have a UAS licence, it was not able offer full mobility on the its CDMA technology.But few months back, the DoT allowed MTNL full mobility on the CDMA platform in Delhi and Mumbai and now the company launches India's first ‘FREE INCOMING’ calls facility in Roaming for Delhi customers and it will be available for Mumbai customers soon.
The company also has more than 30,000 CDMA handsets, worth more than Rs 15 crore lying unused, which can be used for expansion in the rest of the country. It also plans to utilize the mobile virtual network operator model to capture the CDMA market.
According to a source in MTNL, the company is planning to focus on increasing its CDMA customer base in the current year. “We are offering new services like Free Incoming call while Roaming,instant messages, camera and voice SMS to tap the low-end segment where the service is extremely popular due to lowest tariffs among all operators,” he said.
