MTNL in association with Aksh Optifibre today announced the launch of India’s first legal and cheapest Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services in Mumbai.  The service will enable MTNL broadband subscribers to call US, UK, Canada and Australia at rates as low as Rs 1 per minute changing the voice calling experience forever. The customer using this service will be able to call International just like making calls from a normal telephone without the need of a PC.

“With the launch of our VoIP service today, we will now be providing 3 in 1 services i.e. internet, VOIP and IPTV simultaneously to our customers through a single MTNL Telephone connection. Our target is to reach a subscriber base of 1 lakh by the end of next fiscal year and will be investing Rs. 110 crores within the next  the next 3 years..” said Dr. Kailash Choudhari, MD, Aksh Optifibre Ltd.

The VoIP Service (Voice over Internet Protocol) will be available to Broadband Customers of MTNL. The VoIP uses SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for transporting voice packets. The present System capacity is 50,000 for VoIP subscribers and the target fixed is 10,000 connections for this financial year and 50,000 connections for the subsequent year. This facility shall also be available to all MTNL PCO holders. The service is launched initially on prepaid basis.

The Call charges from VoIP to PSTN / Mobile phone to US, UK, Canada, Australia shall be Rs. 1/- per minute, and for Japan, Malaysia Rs. 2/ per minute. The service shall be available to about 150 countries.

Shri R.S.P Sinha, CMD MTNL announced the commercial launch of VoIP Services – Netfone, he said, “ VOIP induction to MTNL’s list of services is the result of the relentless efforts to provide consumers the benefits of technology at the most affordable prices. We are now all set to connect the people of our country with the world and I am confident that people would be delighted with the service and demand would certainly increase.”

The service is launched with attractive tariff plans such as Plan VoIP 200 with a monthly rental Rs.200/- having 400 minutes of SIP-SIP calls free and 20 paise per minute thereafter and Plan VoIP 400 with a monthly rental Rs.400/- having 800 minutes of SIP-SIP calls free and 10 paise per minute thereafter.

The service is provided through Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA), which shall be connected to ADSL modem. The refundable security deposit shall be Rs.1000/- and a quarterly rental of Rs. 243/- (inclusive of service tax). The lifetime plan is also available for ATA on payment of Rs. 1460/- (inclusive of all taxes).

The prepaid cards will be available in the denomination of Rs.100, Rs.500 and Rs.1, 000 with validity 3 months, 6 months and 12 months respectively with full talk value and available at all MTNL Sachaar haats.

The registration and provisioning will start from 1^st September and 11^th September respectively. The customer can book VoIP connection by dialing 1500; the 24-hour helpline is 12665 toll free. 

Sourced From: Perfect Relations Limited