Communications Minister A Raja has always believed that competition will bring the price down for telecom related services in the country. While private operators appear to be working towards this belief, government’s own, MTNL seems to be heading for a different belief.

The PSU has increased tariffs for its IPTV services, a move which has gone virtually unnoticed. Subscribers will now have to shell out more to avail the services. The monthly rentals too have been increased.

This should come as a shocker because only a couple of days back, private operator Bharti Airtel has announced competitive plans including for IPTV services offered as part of its triple play service bouquet.

New Tariff for myway

The price hike by MTNL is for Aksh Opti Fibre’s IPTV services as well as for myway service offerings.

In fact for one of the myway plans, MTNL has not only increased the tariffs but also decreased the number of channels offered.

New Tariff for Aksh

For Aksh the existing plan of Rs 199 will be discontinued henceforth and subscribers of this plan will have to migrate to a new plan at a higher price. Additionally the refundable amount for the set top box has also been increased from Rs 999 to Rs 1,999/-.

IPTV was always considered a premium service. But it seems MTNL and its partners are taking this premium to a new level northwards.