Thanks to the ubiquitous Internet, your telephone bill can be drastically trimmed. The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) claims that STD calls can be offered at 15 paise/minute and local calls can be free on the same network, if the government permits unrestricted domestic internet telephony.

The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) claim that they can offer free local calls in case of own network (that is, within the network of a particular internet service provider) and 10 paise per minute for calls on other IP network. “ISD call rates can further come down to 50 paise per minute on same IP network, and in other IP network 75 paise. And if you want to call on a mobile or fixed line from an IP phone, STD call rates can be offered at 50 paise per minute,” the ISPAI claims. The association has members such as Sify, Net4, HFCL, HCL Infinet, RailTel, Spectranet and Tulip IT Services.

Currently, STD call rates on mobile networks are about Re 1 per minute while local rates range from 80 paise to Rs 1. Operators such as Airtel and Vodafone charge Re 1.50 and Re 2.75 per minute for a STD call whereas a call from India to the US or UK costs cheaper at 95 paise per minute, or lower through the internet protocol (IP) telephony. The same call to the US or UK through a mobile cost Rs 6.40