MTNL rolls out 3G services commercially

State-run MTNL today became the first to commercially rolled out third generation services, under which a customer would be able to access live TV, movie downloads and high speed Internet on mobile phones, at a monthly rental of Rs 599 and a call charge of 60 paise per minute.

Launching the service, MTNL's Chairman and Managing Director R S P Sinha said for accessing the MTNL 3G 'Jadoo Service' a user will have to pay a one time activation charge of Rs 500 and, thereafter, a monthly rental of Rs 599, besides usage charges with regards to voice calls and data downloads.

Singha said under the normal 3G usage a customer's bill would not be more than Rs 1,200 per month.

The voice call under the 3G service will cost 60 paise a minute within MTNL's own network, while on other networks it will cost Rs 1 per minute. However, there are no other 3G network at the moment.

Video call, in which the subscribers will be able to see each other while talking, will cost Rs 1.80 per minute within MTNL's own network and Rs 3 per minute for other networks.

The 3G data download services (non-voice) will also be available at Rs 149 per month and Rs 5 per MB user charges.

Sinha said MTNL has invested about Rs 500 crore to install the 3G network which has a capacity to accommodate two lakh subscribers.