After having launched one of the best SMS packs known to us (5,000 SMS’s for Rs.95), RCom didn’t give any more shocks to write about them. And now they’ve come up with the ideal plan for all its user segments. Here it goes:

Analyzing the above plans in the order they are in, My Local plan which comes for Rs.299 per month gives a very good value for money. It is similar to the GSM operators full value plans, but is better in the way that it offers (300 mins.) free calling to other networks also. The call rates thereafter are also quite good.

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BPL’s service basket already provides Voice SMS to its customers. The company has taken a step ahead by launching the same service on an international scale. This service includes Voice Messages being sent by BPL users all across the world, whatever the time zone may be. The company will be partnering with Kirusa, which has its headquarters in New Jersey and is the leading Voice Service provider in the world.

Just to give you’ll a description of the service, the Indian customer would dial *00, followed by the international number and then record the message. To send the message, all that the user has to do is hang up and the receiver will receive the message as audio. As for the charges, they will be out soon. But BPL has, with this launch, announced that current BPL users can avail of unlimited Voice Messaging service nationally for a charge of Rs.50 per month.

Vodafone has bought in a range of STD Bonus Cards for its Mumbai circle. Now, Vodafone prepaid users can call their regional places at a flat rate of Re 1. The list of the bonus cards and their charges are:

1. All numbers in UP, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – Bonus recharge for Rs 38

2. All numbers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry – Bonus recharge for Rs 39

3. All numbers in Kolkata, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar – Bonus recharge for Rs 37

4. All numbers in Delhi, Kolkata, & Chennai – Bonus recharge for Rs 41

5. All numbers in Gujarat – Bonus recharge for Rs 42

6. All STD calls – Bonus recharge for Rs 120

So, just select your location and get started. The validity for each bonus card is one month and the call rates as I earlier mentioned is Re 1. The bonus card offer is not valid for the lifetime validity users. Before recharging your number with a bonus card it is advisable to check your eligibility. Send “ST Bonus” as an SMS to 111 (toll-free) to check your eligibility.

So it started with Rs. 999 then Rs. 499 and now Rs. 199. Reliance Mobile has announced their aggressive decision to launch a lifetime prepaid card which will be the cheapest offering up till now.

Two years back, they were the ones to introduce a lifetime prepaid card which made other operators to follow the suit.

And this year too, they are starting a trend. So what’s so special this year apart from a reduction in price? Well they have removed the restriction of recharging a certain amount to keep the number active. A user can enjoy uninterrupted service for lifetime.

This is a smart move by them because an influx of new subscribers would mean that they can pitch in their VAS to more customers. After all, it is the highest profit making area for the operators.

The offer will be out soon in the market.

UPDATE: As pointed by our reader, Reliance indeed wants us to recharge with a minimum of Rs. 200.

BPL Mobile users both postpaid and prepaid can use this new service which allows BPL Mobile to BPL Mobile calls at 10 paise per minute. The service comes for a monthly rental of Rs 49 and can be activated by any subscriber except the lifetime validity subscribers.

This add-on service is a great way to reduce your monthly mobile bill if your maximum calls are in the BPL Mobile circle. To activate this scheme postpaid subscribers need to SMS TEN to 50505 and prepaid subscribers need to send the same SMS TEN to 50800. If you have any other discount packs activated on your number then do not activate this scheme as it will replace your existing calling pack.

MTNL is on a marketing spree, with ads of this public operator being seen wherever your eyes move. Yes it’s true, MTNL has managed to cover all possible media and is aggressively trying to publicise the new offers being launched by them.

Just happened to tune into a radio station and what do we hear? Those who are calling at Re.1 are crying over their call charges and the voice over artist is enjoying tension free calls at 90Paise. This is definitely the English version of the ad, which is trying to compete with the other operators call charges being reduced to Re.1. The operators we are talking about are Airtel and Vodafone.

This is definitely a strong move my MTNL and is urging other private players to get into a war of the cheapest, which mostly will follow in the coming months. We guess the sleeping tiger has now awakened and is hungry, that’s for sure.

Sarcastic advertisements are mostly seen for cola drinks. But now its not restricted to colas as Reliance brings sarcasm to the telecom sector. Check out the game known as Baatman which is on Reliance ADAG’s Zapak gaming website. The game is a remake of classic Bomberman and is obviously created to market Reliance Mobile which touts itself as the best mobile network in the country. If self-boasting is not enough, they also take a dig at its competitors called as Podafone (evil) and Hairtell (useless). So if you haven’t figured it out yet, they are referring to Vodafone and Airtel.

Ok. So I love sarcasm but an indirect (shall I say direct?) reference with a weird name can leave a bad taste in the mouths of the competitors. How about RealAnts? My apologies for such a bad name!

Recently we showed you how postpaid Tata Indicom users can make the best of their connections by reviewing SMS and call packs. Now we are featuring Airtel with one of its calling scheme for prepaid connection. Before proceeding, I would like to tell you that this recharge is strictly for users who call on Airtel.

Recharge denomination which is priced at Rs.399 gives 3,000 minutes for A2A, yaa you read it right. This recharge is valid for a month and all other calls are charged at Re.1. It also has talktime of Rs.50.

We say

According to us, if you and your loved one are using Airtel, then there’s no thinking twice. For the fact even if most of your calls are to Airtel numbers, we advice you to grab this one. Definitely we aren’t recommending it to those who live on Rs.100 per month and stuff.

We at Tele Gyaan are proud to announce an extension to our blog. The place is Tele Gyaan Forums and there you can post your suggestions, queries, complaints about your operators or anything that comes under this sun.

Give yourself a heads up and register yourself pronto! We are waiting for you.