As a Diwali gift to personnel of military and paramilitary, the Centre has reduced call rates on satellite phone to ensure that they can speak to their family for “longer durations.”
Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said Defence as well as paramilitary personel will be able to make calls to their families using satellite phone for Rs 1 per minute from Thursday, instead of the existing Rs 5 per minute on calls via Digital Satellite Phone Terminal (DSPT).
“On the eve of Diwali, we are announcing that Armed forces and para-military forces stationed in remote areas and tough terrains on borders will be able to make satellite phone calls at the rate of Rs 1 per minute, instead of Rs 5 applicable on it. This will enable them to talk their family for longer duration,” Sinha said.
The Minister also announced that no rental will be charged from security forces from Thursday.
“At present, Rs 500 monthly rent is charged for satellite phone connections from security forces. From tomorrow onwards, they will not need to pay any rental,” Sinha said.
Satellite phone service was earlier being provided by Tata Communications but now it will be provided by the state- run telecom firm BSNl.
The call charge was Rs 1 in 2009-10 to begin with, to be revised every 5 years. “We have decided that charges will be Rs 1 only per call and not increased to Rs 5,” Sinha said.
Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the cost will have an impact of Rs 3-4 crore per annum which will be borne by the Government.
Currently, the country has 2,500 operational satellite phone connections.
“We have capacity of 5,000 connections. We are informing the Defence and the Home Ministries that more connections can be given. The total capacity can be increased in six months,” Sinha said.
The soldiers and officers work day and night without bothering about difficult weather conditions. As they are posted away from their homes and headquarters, there is a constant requirement for them to speak to their family and also to their headquarters. These soldiers use only DSPT service provided by BSNl because there is no other means of communications available in those areas.