The charges for NWD calls have been slashed by about 55 percent and ISD 31 percent. Under the new tariff regime, a subscriber will now be able to call anywhere in Bangladesh at Tk 4.50 instead of Tk 10 a minute during peak hours and at Tk 3 instead of Tk 7.50 during off-peak hours.

A call made within a district will now cost Tk 1.5 instead of Tk 3.0. The post and telecommunications ministry will issue a gazette notification on new tariff in a few days, sources said.

The ministry has also redefined the peak hours from 8:00am to 10:00pm.

Following a proposal of the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), the ministry also has changed the air distance categories from three to two slabs -- one up to 100 kilometres and the second more than that.

The call tariff for the first slab has been fixed at Tk 3 a minute, which was Tk 3 to Tk 6 previously, during peak hours. The charge would be flat at Tk 1.50 during off-peak hours.

The call charge for the second slab has been cut to Tk 4.5 a minute from Tk 10 during peak hours and to Tk 3 during off-peak hours.

Subscribers making long-distance calls will be the most benefitted ones from the new tariff regime, approved by Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, sources said.

The post and telecommunications ministry has also rearranged the ISD call zones in four groups in place of three.

Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait will be in Zone-I and the call charge will be Tk 18 a minute during peak hours and Tk 15 during off-peak hours. The charges were Tk 20 and Tk 15 a minute during peak and off-peak hours for Saarc countries and Myanmar and Tk 30 and Tk 22.50 a minute for middle-eastern countries.

Call charges for the Zone-II comprising European and some frequently-called countries including Australia, USA and Canada have been refixed at Tk 24 and Tk 18 a minute during peak and off-peak hours. These were Tk 40 and Tk 30 previously.

The finance ministry observed that the reduction of call charges would help the BTTB become more competitive. It also noted there was no alternative to reducing the ISD call charges in the face of illegal call termination by the internet service providers.

Initially, the BTTB will count a Tk 90-crore revenue loss a year from NWD calls once the slashed call charges take effect, but it will eventually fetch an additional Tk 5 crore a year, as calls will see a rise by about 50 percent.

The state telecoms monopoly also will incur a loss of Tk 26 crore from reduced ISD call charges, but in the long term its income will go up by Tk 10 crore a year from the increased ISD calls, the ministry observed.