New Delhi, June 2 (IANS): State-run BSNL has decided to offer free incoming calls to its mobile customers from June 15, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.

Prasad made the announcement at a press conference here.

BSNL, in a statement, said: "BSNL has decided to offer free incoming calls to its mobile customers from June 15, 2015 for a period of one year to begin with, while on roaming across the country. The announcement comes ahead of the full mobile number portability (MNP) scheme which is in the offing."

BSNL chairman cum managing director Anupam Shrivastava said: "Although there could be slight reduction in revenue on account of free incoming calls during roaming but we expect to gain first mover advantage and anticipate offsetting this amount by arresting churn out/porting out and by acquiring new customers."

"As a public sector telecom operator our aim is not only to earn revenue alone but to provide best quality services to the masses in far-flung and remotest areas at competitive prices," he added.