Meanwhile, the Government has decided to levy a higher duty on imports of satellite-compatible handsets at 58.5 per cent as against 53.5 per cent duty on cellular handsets. The end-result is that while visitors from abroad are able to use the Iridium service, resident Indians cannot use the facility owing to non-availability of handsets.

Iridium launched its service, globally, on November 1 and India signed up only as late as October 30-just in time to be part of the worldwide launch.The service allows a user to make a call from anywhere in the world viaIridium-operated satellites. The Iridium handsets, which are manufactured by Motorola and Kyocera of Japan, also provides a dual option. This facility allows the customer to use the phone as a regular cellular phone when the user is in a cellular zone.

The new technology, the first of its kind in the world, is being eagerly awaited in the country. Almost 300 countries of the world have already agreed to allow users in their country to avail themselves of the Iridium service. In India, Iridium's services are provided by Iridium India, promoted by Motorola and a clutch of domestic institutions. Iridium India has already carried out preliminary marketing exercises and also fixed tariff packages.

In the first case, a user will need to pay Rs 1,95,000 per handset and Rs 195 per minute of airtime use. If a user opts for the second package then he will need to pay Rs 2,35,000 for the handset but then be required to pay only Rs 75 per minute for airtime use for the first 500 minutes. The third package entails auser paying Rs 2,75,000 for the handset and pay Rs 75 per minute for the first 1,000 minutes of airtime use. In addition to this, there will be a monthly rental. Incidentaly, unlike in cellular, the receiver of a call does not pay any charge. The entire charge is borne by the caller.