Indianomics!

Updated on 3rd April 09, original article dates back to 15th January 09.

Reliance GSM Network Quality is poorer than I would have thought.

Initially when I had inserted the SIM card and started the phone, It was working fine. Reliance to Reliance, GSM and CDMA both does not have a major connectivity problem with each other. Its for others who you have to bargain for. Connectvity to Airtel suffers big time, Vodafone was just ok.

Features

Other than its Network Quality, on a positive note for customers is that 900 Rs. worth of talktime you would get for a period of 90 days i.e. Rs. 10 every day (not in all circles). I have not been able to get in touch with customer care so that I can calrify a few doubts.

1. Every day you would get 10 INR as talktime/
2. For the first two days, you get Rs. 20 as validity. For the first day, you get Rs. 20 with validity of  two days. Then, Rs. 10/- each day till 90th day since your activation.
3. Reliance to Reliance free, after 11.oo Pm
4. No information about GPRS etc.
5. 6 Months Validity
6. Rs. 25 for Sim card and Rs 50 first recharge.

With these information still at bay, you cannot have a good review. Wait and watch for a full review.

Update day two:

Call quality was very good against as expected. I don’t get network inside my office premises. Making a call is still a pain, you have to dial the same number some ten – fifteen times to get connected.

Update: Month One

Call quality is still superb, but Connectivity issues remain. Mobile GPRS enabled, Browsing as quick as others, though not better. Making a call still remains the pain, but otherwise the connection is active. Reliance GMS Call Quality is as same as the CDMA which really is appreciated. Call drops are more frequent, hence issues still remains on the network front.

Update: Month Two

After two months of using Reliance GSM Network, the Quality of Network has gone up, disconnections between calls have come down (call drops), Customer service pathetic. Customer Service is not good enough to beat the leaders in the Industry. Call quality has come down a bit, though making a call still is a pain.

Update: Month Three

The free talktime is now finished, hence I have stopped calling these days.

Network remains bad. Call quality remains superb. Calling still is a pain and Call Drops are high.

You might have heard the same news in 2002 about Mr. Ambani is merging RPL and RIL.

Well, the same is happening again. Why is something nobody is interested in asking, for the reason is pretty much clear. The tax soaps and a lower price in the market are two major reasons to get things  moving quickly.

The board is meeting on March 2nd to decide on how to do that. Chevron’s 5pc stake in the refiner would be bought out at the same price Chevron bought them in April last year.

This could help Reliance to gain a place among the world’s top refiners.

The sensex will tank today amid the growing speculation on the negative fallout of Obama’s stimulus package. Dow has fallen to 12 year record low.

Reliance is expected to open on high as the news is spread about the brothers meeting hinting of a possible truce. There reports are just the rumours, however the two may meet on the platinum birthday celebration their mother, Kokilaben.

If you see your Reliance share in profits, sell it.

Tata Tele is also planning of launching its own GSM services in late January or Mid February.

Reliance has already mopped up a huge crowd for its own GSM service, with a pathetic network [Read Reliance GSM Network Quality (Review) ]

Lets see what Tata’s  come up with.  It would interesting to see how all these would add up for Customer. The Customer would be confused with so many players to choose from. The total tally for Mumbai would be 7. These are Reliance, BPL, Vodafone, MTNL, Airtel, Idea, Tata. As for CDMA, TATA (including Virgin) and Reliance are the only service providers. No new service provider are in for CDMA.

The most important parameter I would rate any service provider is a combination of Service Quality with decent staff and Price at which they provide the service.

So, here is the survey to find out the Best of Mumbai’s (Maharashtra) Telecom Companies’ Services.

Vodafone

Vodafone scores high on the Customer service front, though its on the decline from earlier when they were Orange and Hutch. However, in cost, it would score low and their network is only best of the rest. Network congestion has been a problem area for Vodafone for some time now, and call drops increasing by the day.

Airtel

Airtel offers a great combination of packages with cheap offers. Its probably best used for GPRS which they offer @ Rs. 15 per day. But the customer service is the worst I have faced. To top it all, a week network makes it the most offensive. The recent survey tells that Airtel does not meet the service quality benchmark set by TRAI this year, citing huge number of call drops.

MTNL

MTNL on the contrary offers a good mixture of both, but does not supersede any private player on either fronts. Network remains a good point, but coverage in most areas not too good.

Idea

Idea has good customer service, and average plans for customers. Network remains a sore point for Idea. Abhishek has failed to entice users to Idea in Mumbai. They need to grow their network coverage.

BPL

The fate of this company, once with the best network in Mumbai, remains to be in doldrums. BPL today is very shabby, ultra cheap and a bad customer care. It still has the good network they had always but it is now time to increase coverage area. Call drops have been few. They have enticed the young with a young image and probably are living up to their expectations to an extent. But the traditional users of BPL have been the oldies who had a strong brand recall for BPL as they had for Sony.

Tata & Virgin

This is a company which is backed by a trusted brand. Tata has been on the move, and slowly and surely, they have moved up the ladder. They are not in for a dog fight. Their fares are low, and offer a superior customer services in Virgin guise, over and above what Vodafone offers. Network is good and call drops are few. Definitely, my choice of  service provider. Only let down, the handsets offered are cheap and basic. Need to have a vast collection of handsets, like Reliance does.

Reliance CDMA and GSM

Reliance CDMA offers the best network in CDMA, betters Vodafone by a good margin. The availability of multiple handset choice with below average (if not worse) customer service is what its all about. Reliance plans and packages are good. The free calling between Reliance to Reliance is an awesome scheme. Every other operator has failed to put up such an alternative, of course which comes at a cost or 799 INR recharge. Good network coverage across India, and good packages for Data cards.

Tata Indicom CDMA

Perhaps, the best bet of all, this is a real tough call to make. Reliance has already triumphed on most parameters, but when it comes to Trust and Quality, Tata Indicom leaves Reliance behind by a whisker. Sure, network of Reliance is better than Tata’s, call drops on Tata network more or less as same as that of Reliance. If you are a traveler across India frequently, you should think twice going for a Tata. The corporate choice for Data cards, Tata offers the best data card packages around.

Summing it up

So, in the end it all boils down to who we should trust our money with! A provider can be chosen on basis your needs. If you a need a no nonsense, affordable service provider, TATA in Virgin guise has to be your choice. It gives you your basic communication needs a full satisfaction. It also tops on the charts of the Service Quality benchmark set by TRAI

For more than basic use of a mobile, trust Reliance in CDMA, And in GSM, Vodafone. Here goes the order.

Tata’s have truly lived up their hype, trust people put into.

1. Virgin Mobile (Tata CDMA)
2. Tata Indicom CDMA
3. Reliance CDMA

In GSM

1. Vodafone
2. MTNL
3. BPL
4. Reliance & Airtel
5. Idea

Overall, Tatas emerge winner. Virgin is the brand you need to look for. If you need some thing more than virgin, go for Tata Indicom or Reliance. This stands true for both the GSM & CDMA. It seems CDMA is winning the race for quality and cost.

Good luck for your choice. Share your exprience with me. Post a comment here.

With the launch of Reliance GSM services, it became India’s first telecom operator to offer both the services simultaneously.

It is reported that this service is in great demand since it is offering up to INR 10/- talktime, for free.

I witnessed a mad rush when I went to pay for my reliance bill in Reliance Web World. I failed to realise why the rush was for, till I asked the executive about it. Reliance is once again using the tactics used by it when they launched the mobile for just INR 501.

Reliance’s offer is basically a strategy aimed at encouraging customers to get hooked on to its services as it did with the 501 Monsoon hungama. Since then, Bharati, Vodafone and Idea have reduced their Life Time prices. Through this way, it will be able to add up more customers to make up for a demand of additional spectrum.

There was a phenomenal waiting list. The store I visited had already sold many cards, and has a waiting list well above 300. That figure in itself is astonishing.

What we need to see is whether the network quality is as good as its competitors.  Idea has already burnt its fingers when you compare the Network quality in Mumbai as compared to Vodafone, the current leader in Mumbai.

Vodafone is the best network in Mumbai. However, that is only because other networks are pathetic. It’s a wait and watch for me. I would certainly not move to Reliance just because it is offering INR 10 every day. The amount will only last one day. And the amount is not same in every circle. It’s INR 5 in Andhra, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Reliance is only putting more efforts where it thinks it will face stiff competition. But I think it’s quite unfair. If they are launching a new service, the benefits should have been equal for all over India.

It needs to be seen how Reliance fares. What ever the result it may be, it is certainly a winning situation for the customers. Already, India’s telephony market has the lowest fare in the world, and is set to be more affordable. Congrats all consumers!