Mumbai, July 18: Reliance Communications (R-Com) today slashed 3G charges by half to bring them on a par with 2G mobile Internet prices in 13 circles, including Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta.

R-Com subscribers can now access 3G services at Rs 123 for 1 GB, Rs 246 for 2 GB and Rs 492 for 4 GB.

The country’s third-largest mobile phone company by subscribers said customers migrating to its network through number portability would get 1 GB of 3G data free per month for two months.

The rate cut aims to make 3G accessible and affordable to all customers, the company said.

The price cut is for all pre-paid, post-paid, new and old connections.

“Only one-fourth of the people who own 3G phones truly use the service. There is a huge barrier because of affordability. We are cutting 3G prices down to the 2G data rates,” Gurdeep Singh, R-Com president and CEO for wireless, said in the capital today.

Singh said R-Com was looking to attract 40 per cent of smartphone users in the country.

After exhausting the data limit, the customers would be charged 3 paise for every 10 kb of data.

Last month Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and Tata Teleservices slashed their 3G and 2G data rates by up to 90 per cent in select circles.