New Delhi: Private mobile service providers of both GSM and CDMA technology have jointly formed a new initiative ‘Rural Chalo’ - which will be rolled out in phases, to provide a benefit of Rs 125 to rural subscribers.
The move is aimed at achieving the government's objective to take the benefits of mobile telephony to rural India, a release issued by Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said.
In phase I, the programme is expected to cover 50 millions new rural subscribers.
Effective from May 1, the mobile service providers would give each new rural subscriber an up-front discount of Rs 50 on the tariff package and further an amount of Rs 75 would be passed on as free talk-time in two or three installments spread over 6-9 months, it said.
The programme has been developed under the aegis of GSM and CDMA associations COAI and AUSPI - and all the member operators of these associations would be participating in it.
AUSPI Secretary General SC Khanna said, rigorous subscriber verification processes would continue, not only to comply with the applicable guidelines and regulations but also to ensure that the benefit of the programme passes on to genuine rural subscribers.
COAI Director General T V Ramachandran said the initiative would strongly incentivise both the subscriptions as well as the usage of mobile service in rural areas and thus help meet the rural telephony objectives of the government.
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