According to an advertisement placed by the company , from today customers will “enjoy sweeping reductions in the price of international calls to all major destinations”. The countries included in this promotion are the USA, Canada, UK, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, Suriname, The Netherlands Antilles, Brazil, India and China. The offer is expected to benefit all users of GT&T’s international telephone service, whether post paid land line, post paid mobile or pre-paid mobile. The rates of calls to all other destinations not covered in this promotion will remain the same, the advertisement said.
The advertisement said that “the new promotion was approved for a period of three months (3) by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by way an Order dated Tuesday, December 29, 2009.” However, Chairman of the PUC retired justice Prem Persaud when contacted yesterday explained that the PUC did not issue an order but simply approved an application that GT&T had made.
The company’s promotion allows wire line customers without international direct dial, all cellular mobile customers and non-subscribing customers with International Direct Dial to enjoy pre-VAT rates which would allow costumers to pay reduced rates after the first minute. Based on the new rates, callers to the US, Canada and the UK will pay $40 per minute from the second minute during peak hours and $30 per minute for the second minute and beyond during off peak hours. Callers to Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, Suriname, Netherland Antilles and Brazil will pay $47 from the second minute during the peak period and $37 from the second minute during the off-peak period.
Calls to India and China during the three month period will be $90 from the second minute during peak hours and $70 from the second minute during the off-peak hours.
Meanwhile land line customers with international direct dial may subscribe to special plans, which for a fee, will allow these customers to benefit from special pre-VAT rates that have been established specially for the promotion.
Subscribers to Plan 1 will be able to call the USA, Canada and the UK at per minute rates of $30, $32 and $35 respectively during the peak hours, while the off peak rates are $22.50, $24.00 and $26.25 respectively. The subscription charge per month for this plan, according to the advertisement, is $1000.
The Plan 2 package allows customers to call Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Antigua at $34 per minute during peak hours while off rates are set at $25.50 per minute. Under this plan, customers can make calls during peak periods to Suriname, The Netherland Antilles and Brazil at rates of $35, $45 and $48 respectively. Off peak rates for the same countries are $26.75, $33.75 and $36 per minute respectively. The cost of this package is $1000.
Plan 3, which has a similar subscription charge of $1000, has peak rates set at $70 per minute to make calls to India and China. The off-peak rate to these two countries under this plan is $52.50.
According to the advertisement, customers can take all three plans at a monthly cost of $2,250 while any two plans can be gotten at a cost of $1,750. These charges are additional to the customer’s normal line rental charge.
