S Tel launches in India with pay per second plan

S Tel Private Limited, a joint venture between Siva Group (formerly Sterling Infotech Group) and BMIC Limited, a subsidiary of Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), has launched its GSM mobile services in India. The telecom operator has started operations from Himachal Pradesh where services are expected to be launched this week. It will later launch its services in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and North East circles. The company has currently acquired Unified Access Services Licenses and spectrum in six C circle towns.
S Tel has launched tariff plans at one paisa per second and 50 paisa per minute for STD and local outgoing calls respectively.
The operator has tied up with Indiatimes.com to offer value added services with localised content including astrology, Bollywood, sports, career and education. It will use non-traditional channels such as insurance agencies, cable operators, courier services and Panchayats to distribute its products.
Siva Group is a $3 billion group (about Rs 14,000 crore), working in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics, hospitality and realty, media, education and agro business. Bahrain-headquartered Batelco is a telecommunications operator with mobile, fixed and wireless broadband, Datacom and fixed line services. It has operations in 7 markets across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.