I’ve thought Mobile prepaid users get a better deal in terms of price & freebies and this I’ve written in a earlier post here. But now it seems AirTel Best Value offers give a good deal to postpaid users too like their prepaid counterparts. Check out the page here. My favorite being,
- Unlimited Mobile Internet : Mobile Office (GPRS) for Rs. 98/- (Tamilnadu circle). Data limit is 2GB and i am not sure whether this profile allows connecting the phone as a modem to pc (usually other mobile office plans allows this – if anybody knows please clarify in the comments here)
- Unlimited SMS: Rs. 99/per month – for 500 sms (local & national sms) daily. But here prepaid user in TN circle get 750 sms daily only for Rs. 60 p.m
And here is a pdf listing all the shortlisted sms codes to get help regarding billing, vas for postpaid users.
written by Vignesh
\\ tags: Airtel, airtel offers, airtel postpaid
I’ve been using AirTel (one of the largest GSM service providers in India) for the last 5-6 years and in the recent times a host of service providers have entered into the GSM space in my telecom circle of TamilNadu. Couple of them has caught my eyes Idea Cellular (not available in my town) and Tata Docomo. Their caption of “Do the New” with the 1p/1sec has enabled them to storm the market. Still with only prepaid service but with ever increasing coverage , I was able to test run their service using my friend Naveen’s C5212.
Signal Reception : The signal strength seems to fluctuate inside buildings but in outdoors it seems to be fine. Inside my town signal receptions seems good but coverage wise I’ve heard mixed report from various people but in major towns / cities I think where their service is available the signal reception shouldn’t be a problem.
Voice Clarity: In one word its “EXCELLENT”. I don’t know how they do it (Tata Indicom CDMA service has Advanced Digital Network – remember the ‘hello …hello’ ad) but voice sounded extra clear and loud. Calls seemed to take a few extra seconds to go through, but it got through fine. SMS receiving and sending worked without a hitch.
GPRS Services : The main feature which I was looking for is their EDGE enabled GPRS services. Generally browsing seems to be speedier but didn’t try downloading a large file or attaching it to my laptop as a modem. But i tried testing the speed via the samsung in-built browser the speeds varied from 80-132 Kbps which is excellent when compared to AirTel(which has only GPRS based service in my town) returned a paltry 30 Kbps. But the major dampener of Tata Docomo’s gprs service is the rate of 1p/1KB. I can understand people taking seconds to call and getting their savings from it but browsing these days on the mobile can rack up heavy data usage so 1p/1KB is costlier when compared to my current no rental plan in Airtel where I pay 30p/50Kb.
Billing: The 1p/1sec seemed to work fine but there seems to be a difference of 1-2 sec because the C5212 showed i talked for 7min 40 secs which should come as 4.60 rs/- but i was deducted 4.62 rs/- . And I wasn’t able to check how much Kb used and there was no info regarding the amount deducted after each gprs usage.
So does the 1p/1sec save money ? If the call rate is more than 60p/min its a saving. But I am in AirTel’s postpaid 150 plan where my call rate to other AirTel mobile 50p but when I call other provider’s no the cost goes to 75p/min and STD is 1.50/min so I can save when I call to other provider’s no. and STD. And also only local sms’s comes under the free sms scheme but I have 150 local + national sms in my plan. So people have to really assess their calling / texting / browsing patterns to see whether they can save.
Kudos to Tata Docomo to making a mark in a crowded mobile operator market for coming up with something different.And their different modes of marketing from funny ads to social networking via twitter, facebook, orkut will enable them to get a dedicated fan base. Hopefully their network quality and service features will provide value to customers like me and you 
Now I’ve to see whether Mobile Number Portability can come soon to help me out !!!
written by Vignesh
\\ tags: Airtel, tata docomo
I’ve written about the various gprs / edge plans available in my mobile network circle and in India as general in my post here , but in this week my network operator AirTel seems has come out with some new plans. Here are the various plans (kindly note: check whether these plans are available in your telecom circle by contacting the customer care).
- GPRS 99 – 50MB free for Rs.99/- .Extra 30p for 50 Kb
- GPRS 199 – 120MB free for Rs. 199/- Extra 20p for 50 Kb
- GPRS 299 – 200MB free for Rs. 299/- . Extra 15p for 50 Kb.
It is somewhat cheaper than the earlier tariffs, but the speeds at the best can be compared to dial-ups as my town doesn’t have EDGE connectivity, but those in EDGE enabled areas will be better served than those in GPRS areas.
P.S: You can express your views here or vote in the polls to see where mobile internet is headed ?
written by Vignesh
\\ tags: Airtel, gprs
Loading ...