PMO shops for cheaper mobile tariff for its staff

New Delhi: The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government is on an austerity drive.

After insisting that bureaucrats and minister to fly economy class and avoid the five-star culture, it is the turn of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to put less economic burden on the government.

PMO is keen to take advantage of the ongoing tariff war amongst the mobile companies and wants to keep its mobile bills short.

PMO has asked telecom service operators for information on cheaper calls and SMS tariffs.

CNN-IBN has a copy of a letter written on January 4 in which the PMO has asked various service providers for details of their schemes on ISD, STD and roaming calls.

PMO is looking for 50 GSM connections with ISD and STD /SMS facilities, 25 compatible Blackberry connections, special number series, national and international roaming and internal building solutions for uninterrupted signals.

Manmohan Singh's office also wants the telecom operators to ensure uninterrupted connectivity in the high security zone.

PMO has set a deadline of January 15 for all operators to send in their proposals.

Officials of the PMO currently use Bharti Airtel mobile service.

Telecom companies have cut rates drastically for calls and SMSs in the last three months.