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Follow UsBANGALORE: India’s international telecom carrier, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), on Friday announced drastic cuts in tariff on various service which include international private leased line, for ISPs and ISDN tariffs.
While a huge 50 per cent cut has been announced on international private leased lines for Internet Service Providers (ISP), on the original tariff of Web hosting as much as 90 per cent reduction has been declared. The Internet tariff war has only become more aggressive with the VSNL further bringing down the prices.
A VSNL release said that the steps were a part of initiatives to boost the software and Internet in the new millennium. The new rates will be applicable from January 15, 2000 subject to the approval of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and after the statutory period of notification of forbearance as is made mandatory by TRAI.
International leased line charges down by 50%
On the international private leased line, the VSNL board has announced a across the board 25 per cent cut in tariff, which will also be applicable to customers having private leased lines on satellites or optical fibres with double hop or single hop connectivity.
On the normal international private leased line charges to all ISPs, 50 per cent reduction has been announced. This will bring down the connectivity charges from around Rs 1.89 crore to Rs 94 lakh per annum, the release said. VSNL said that a 20 per cent discount will also be made available on private leased line charges to 100 export oriented units over and above the 25 per cent declared for normal customers as a measure to boost software industry in the country.
Internet tariffs go down further
As a follow on measure on the Internet tariffs reduction announced in late December'99, VSNL today announced further reduction in Internet tariffs. The new tariffs for various accounts, hours will be as below:
New TCP/IP Tariff
Registration charge (one time) = Rs 100
Type of plan | Duration for (in hours) | Validity (years) | E-mail box (in MB) | Charges (in Rs.) |
Plan 25 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 450 |
Plan 50 | 50 | 3 | 5 | 900 |
Plan 100 | 100 | 3 | 5 | 1,500 |
Plan 250 | 250 | 3 | 5 | 3,400 |
Plan 500 | 500 | 3 | 5 | 5,500 |
Plan 1000 | 1000 | 3 | 5 | 9,500 |
Plan S100* | 100 | 1 | 5 | 1,000 |
* Students will be given 100 hours concessional TCP/IP account per year. All renewals will be at normal rate.
Off peak rates :
50% of the normal tariff for usage
1. On Weekdays Between 11 PM to 8 AM
2. On Sunday Full Day
VSNL has also simultaneously extended the duration of all Internet accounts to three years and increased the mail box size to 5 MB. Existing users will be allowed a pro-rata increase in their usage period based on the number of unutilized hours left.
ISDN charges too brought down
VSNL has announced a steep reduction in its ISDN tariffs. The ISDN tariffs as revised will be as follows:
Type of Plan | Duration for three years | Charges for per 64 Kbps ISDN Channel (in Rs) |
PLAN 25 | 25 | 855 |
PLAN 50 | 50 | 1,570 |
PLAN 100 | 100 | 2,850 |
PLAN 250 | 250 | 6,410 |
PLAN 500 | 500 | 1,0450 |
PLAN 1000 | 1000 | 18,050 |
Web hosting tariffs reduced by 90%
The telecom carrier has also reduced Web hosting charges. The reduction on original tariff amounts to as much as 90 per cent and the rate.
| Data Transfer | Annual Tariff (Rs in lakh per annum) | Incremental data transfer charges (Rs per month per GB) |
PLAN I | 10GB per month | 2.00 | 2000 |
PLAN II | 25GB per month | 2.75 | 1500 |
PLAN II | 50GB per month | 3.50 | 1000 |
PLAN III | 75GB per month | 4.75 | 750 |
PLAN IV | 100GB per month | 6.00 | 500 |
PLAN V | 1 Mbps | 8.00 |
|
PLAN VI | 2 Mbps | 15.50 |
|
PLAN VII | 4 Mbps | 24.00 |
|
PLAN VIII | 8 Mbps | 40.00 |
|
Shared Web Hosting (for space on VSNL server)
PLAN I | PLAN II | PLAN III | PLAN IV | PLAN V | PLAN VI | |
Annual tariff (Rs) | 60,000 | 75,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 350,000 | 700,000 |
One time set up charge (Rs) | 5,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 |
Data storage | 100MB | 200MB | 500MB | 1GB | 2GB | 5GB |
Monthly Data Transfer | 1GB | 2GB | 5GB | 20GB | 50GB | Unlimited |
E-mail IDs | 10 | 15 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 |