New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) BPL Mobile today announced that its subscribers in Mumbai will enjoy local dialling connectivity, on calls to rest of Maharashtra and Goa, making it the first mobile phone service provider to offer the facility in that region.

The move, which would spare both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers from paying STD charges on all calls between Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, is pursuant to a directive by the Department of Telecommunications on permitting inter-service area connectivity between metros and their states, BPL said here.

''The subscriber can now dial the number directly without '0' prefix for calls within the states of Maharashtra and Goa,'' company EVP (Business Operations) Krishna Angara said in a release here.

As per the Telecom Policy, Mumbai and Maharashtra have been licensed as two separate circles, thus resulting in Metro and Circle licenses. ''The local dialling facility would serve regional communities of interest, enable easy dialling and result in significant savings for our subscribers in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa,'' he said.

At present, calls between Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and the rest of the respective states and between East and West Uttar Pradesh are treated under STD.

BPL Mobile has more than 2.5 million subscribers across 209 towns and cities of the country.