New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS): State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Wednesday said it will not raise its call rates even though leading telecom operators hiked their tariffs last week.

"In the backdrop of the industry trend of increasing call charges, MTNL is not only assuring its customers of keeping the tariffs at the same level, but will continue to take many other measures to further benefit its customers," MTNL's executive director (wireless service) A.K. Bhargava said.

The telecom operator, which offers services in Mumbai and Delhi, also launched new plans, including home zone plan under which a customer will be offered reduced call charges of 1 paisa per 4 seconds.

The company also launched new value added services, including video calling content by Percept Knorigin and mobile TV by DigiVive.

Leading telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone increased their tariffs on their pre-paid plans in select regions recently.

With the entry of new players and the ensuing tariff wars, the high priced bidding for 3G auctions, which saw top operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications coughing up Rs.12,295 crore and Rs.8,583 crore, respectively, the industry's margins were being hammered.

Bharti's move gave a break to the cut-throat competition among telecom operators offering dirt cheap tariffs.