India’s National telecombackbone Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today announced the launch of revised Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) wherein its 2G and 3G Mobile customers would get over 75% cheaper rates for making International calls to selected locations compare to normal tariff and also offers of all other Pan-India mobile service providers.

BSNL offering STVs for ISD Calls in the range for Rs.23 to Rs.41 for prepaid 2G and 3G customers whereas postpaid 2G and 3G users have to pay a fixed monthly charge (FMC) of Rs.20 to Rs.40 to avail the cheaper rates for International calling.

BSNL is the only mobile service provider in India which allow use of its all STVs for ISD calling  while National Roaming with in BSNL network area across India same as Home network.

BSNL has divided the countries into four groups for various STVs. With a STV of Rs.41, prepaid GSM customers can call USA, Canada and Singapore for Rs.1.49 per minute whereas the normal rate is Rs.6 per minute without any pack or plan. BSNL mobile users can call China at Rs.1.49 per minute against the normal ISD tariff is Rs.10 per minute. Postpaid GSM customers too can avail the same rates with a FMC of Rs.40. The SMS tariff has been reduced to Rs.3 from Rs 5 per SMS.

For countries including France, Germany and UK, the rate has been reduced to Rs.4.49 per minute as against Rs.6 with a STV of Rs.38 for prepaid users and FMC of Rs.35 for postpaid customers.BSNL customers can call Bangladesh, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand at Rs.2.99 per minute with STV of Rs.27 as against a normal ISD call price of Rs 10. For calling Australia, the rate has been reduced to Rs 6.49 per minute with Rs.23 STV and a FMC of Rs.23 while SMS can be send for Rs.3.

Recently some Pan-India private players including Bharti Airtel have increased international calling rates by up to 80 per cent mainly due to the impact of depreciation in rupee. While  BSNL is providing its customers the cheapest international call rates, the state-run operator said in a statement.