Due to the mammoth presence of the Internet everywhere, there is a possibility that your telephone bills may get slashed drastically. It is being claimed by the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) that it is possible to offer STD calls at just 15 paise per minute and local calls absolutely free on the same network, if the government allows unhindered domestic internet telephony in the country.

The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) say that they can provide free locals calls incase of their own network or charge just 10 paise for each call made on another IP network. Even the ISD rates, it is said, can be brought drastically down to 50 paise per minute on the same IP network and 75 paise incase of another.

The ISPAI states that just incase a person wishes to dial on a cell phone or landline number, then the STD calls will cost 50 paise per minute. Sify, Net4, HFCL, HCL Infinet, RailTel, Spectranet and Tulip IT Services are some members of this ISPAI association. At the moment, STD cost on mobile network is Rs one for every minute and 80 paise to Rs one is charged for local calls. On the other hand, a call to United States or UK made via cell phone can cost Rs 6.40.  Mr Rajesh Charria, ISPAI president seeks to underscore a very interesting feature about IP network. He says that many telecom operators route their domestic calls via the IP network, but they still charge consumers exorbitant amounts.