"Lanka Bell" the cheapest to call India

Lanka Bell has reduced IDD calling rates to India enabling subscribers to make phone calls to the island's closest neighbour for just Rs. 4.80 excluding taxes.

Working out to just 8 cents per second, this is the lowest call rate to India, in the local market, the company said.

The rate is applicable to calls made to fixed and mobile numbers in India and since billing is on a per second basis, users will only be billed for the time that they talk.

The service is offered through Lanka Bell's Dial 15 service and allows subscribers to make calls without the hassle of using IDD calling cards, the company said.

Commenting, Lanka Bell Managing Director, Prasad Samarasinghe said: This provides a substantial saving to the Sri Lankan businesses with interests in India, as it enables them to make calls at any time of the day for a very low rate.

He pointed out that the new calling rate together with the company's recent introduction of multi-party call conference facility will give businesses a chance to be in touch with their associates or branches in India more often without worrying about high calling rates.

This will also benefit home subscribers who have their loved ones working or studying in India, Samarasinghe said.

This latest price reduction represents another step of the company's commitment to pass on the benefits of its Rs. 3 billion investment to connect Sri Lanka to the FLAG undersea fibre optic cable network, he added.

Lanka Bell subscribers also enjoy a value added service that pays them for the incoming IDD calls they receive on their Lanka Bell phones. The company pays them 50 cents for every minute of incoming IDD calls regardless of the duration, country of origin or the number of calls received for a day.

The Dial 15 service offers the most economical IDD rates to make overseas calls to anywhere in the world, the company said. To use this feature, subscribers have to dial the prefix 15, the International Access Code (00) the country code and the area code followed by the telephone number.

The only wholly Sri Lankan owned company in the telecommunications sector, Lanka Bell is the largest CDMA fixed line provider in the country with 1.2 million subscribers.

The company was established in 1997 with an initial investment of US$ 150 million and was the pioneer of CDMA technology in the country. Lanka Bell has invested more than Rs. 6 billion to date in its operations in Sri Lanka.