Telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCOM) has hiked its cellular calling rates by 25%, reports The Economic Times. The report states that this is the biggest hike by the telco ever and the hike was implemented to improve the company's operating margins. According to the report, RCOM has increased the base tariff to Rs 0.015 paisa per second from Rs 0.012 paisa per second, for four states including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and it plans to extend this price hike to rest of the country in the next 30 days. The report also adds that the revised rates will initially apply to RCOM's new subscribers but it will soon be rolled out to existing customers once the validity of their tariff plans expire. Additional Price Hikes in Future: Further, Gurdeep Singh, CEO of RCOM's wireless division also hinted at further price hikes in the future, stating that the intensity of competition in the telecom sector has reduced significantly in the country. He also noted that this hike was in line with their strategy to focus on growing its paid usage minutes and this price hike will reflect on its revenues for the next financial year, since the validity of 8-9% of its user base expires every month. This follows a reduction of 20.48 million RCOM connections in July 2012, due to the disconnection of inactive subscribers who had not used the connections for two months, taking the telco's total connection base to 134.11 million. The company had previously increased its tariffs from…
