In a trend generally witnessed in the Indian mobile services space where competition quickly reacts to any competitive move brought in by any of the player, Tata DOCOMO the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices, countered Bharti Airtel’s move to slash roaming rates by introducing one paisa per second billing for roaming services.

Henceforth subscribers of Tata DOCOMO have an option to make incoming and outgoing local as well as STD calls while on roaming for one paisa per second. The rates will be effective from Monday, November 23, 2009.

“We are delighted to announce yet another industry-defying offer to our subscribers—a transparent and pack-free roaming tariff plan of 1 paisa per second for all incoming & outgoing calls, both local and long distance, to all networks and types of phones (mobile or landline). TATA DOCOMO subscribers will need no special packs or pay any hidden charges to avail this offer,” Mr Deepak Gulati, President, TATA DOCOMO, said. “This is in keeping with our promise to offer innovative and honest services to our subscribers across the country, he added.”

“When a subscriber is roaming, most telecom operators in India charge a minimum of 50-60 paise per minute, even when the call duration is less than a minute. Under the TATA DOCOMO roaming offer, subscribers will be charged only for what he or she uses—at 1 paisa per second. For instance, a 15-second call made or received while roaming will elicit a charge of 15 paise only—not up to Re 1 on a per minute basis, as is the industry norm,” Mr Gulati said.

Reliance Communications meanwhile says that its offer is already better and simpler than any of the competing offers by rivals. IT says its Simply Reliance plan announced last month offers roaming services at a much competitive (read cheaper) rate than Airtel’s offer.