MTS India extends its help to Nepal by another day

Telecom service provider Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) India has extended its concessional call rate for earthquake-hit Nepal families by yet another day.

"Given the call traffic and the scale of the tragedy, it has been extended by another day," a company spokesperson told IANS. It means the MTS concession will be effective till midnight Tuesday.

Starting 11 p.m. on April 25, MTS India was treating all calls made from its network to Nepal as local calls, which are chargeable at Re.1 per minute.

This, the company said, "is being done for the next 48 hours to support disaster relief efforts and to enable concerned callers to reach out to their friends and families in the earthquake affected areas of Nepal."

"The company has also sent out SMS to its entire base of prepaid and post-paid customers informing them about the special call rates," the company added.

However, it was not clear if other telecom firms like Vodafone India, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, which similarly rendered help to the affected people, also planned to extend the concessions.

Their spokespersons said for the time being there is no such circular to extend the concessions.

Meanwhile, Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday told the envoys of India, China and the US that the toll in the devastating earthquake may go up to 10,000. Nearly 4,400 people are already dead and thousands of others injured are in serious condition. Also, hundreds were reported missing across the country.