Calling cards, also known as telephone cards, are used to pay for telephone services. In its recommendations to the department of telecommunications or DoT, the telecom regulator said calling cards would make it possible for subscribers to select their long distance carrier “The consumer will be able to exercise choice of long distance operator for the national and international calls through calling cards. Competition would be encouraged and affordable innovative tariff plans would become available. The consumer can subscribe to any access provider and still not be dependent on the access provider for long distance calls. Through long distance calling cards, customers can make long distance calls from telephone of any access provider,” Trai said in its recommendations.
Trai has also recommended changes in the license conditions of long distance operators, allowing them to sell their services directly to the consumer.
On Wednesday, ‘The Economic Times’ first reported that telecom subscribers would be able to choose the cheapest ISD and STD tariffs, irrespective of the service provider.
— R Jai Krishna
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Matrix Partners invests in pre-school chain
Mumbai: Venture firm Matrix Partners India has invested Rs30 crore in the first round of funding in preschool education chain Tree House Education and Accessories Pvt. Ltd.
The company currently owns about 45 preschools across India, mostly in Mumbai. It will use the funding to expand its footprint in other parts of the country as well. Tree House is aimed at children aged between 18 months and six years. “It is a market where parents are willing to pay for quality education,” says Matrix Partners India managing director Rishi Navani, who will join the company board. Unlike other pre-school education brands such as Eurokids and Kidzee that operate on a franchised model, Tree House owns all its centres, making it a more capital-intensive business. It is Matrix Partners’ first investment in the education space. The $450 million (Rs1,967 crore) fund has so far closed eight deals, including $10 million in the Murjani Group and an undisclosed round in eBay Inc. spin-off Quikr India Pvt. Ltd.
— Namitha Jagadeesh
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