Mumbai: Private telephony major Reliance Infocomm Ltd has triggered a new bout of price war in India with its launch of a new plan - Joy 499 - for post-paid users with charges of 40 paise per minute for intra-circle calls to company's both WLL and fixedline wireless phones.

The company would charge Re 1 per minute for all other calls, including STD calls, across the country, Reliance Infocomm Head (Special Projects), Inder Bajaj said in a release in Mumbai today (Sep 2, 2004). The scheme, which entails a rental of Rs 499 per month, charges 99 paise per minute for intra circle calls to company's Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) phones, he said.

Telecom industry analysts said with this launch Reliance now offers the lowest cellular rates in the country, cheaper than BPL Mobile which has slashed rates to Rs 1 per minute for local calls.

The company has also launched newer versions of its popular plans - Joy 339 and Joy 149.

Under the new 'Joy 399', the company would offer calls to RIM and its fixedline wireless phones and terminals at 40 paise per minute and under the new 'Joy 149' plan, the tariff for local and intra-circle calls is 99 paise per minute, Bajaj said.