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Archives for November 2008

Call rates might get even cheaper

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We have seen telcos fight it out through price cuts, but this time around the price cuts aren’t an effect of the price war, but an effect of a review that is on its way. The plan, which has been put forth by DoT, asks for a review of the termination charge that is levied upon operators. In simple terms, when an Airtel user calls up a Vodafone users, this charge has to be paid by Airtel to Vodafone.

This also justifies the attractive rates operators offer for calls made on the same network. The current charge stands at 30paise per minute and hasn’t has stayed unchanged since five years. With the scenario changing, and India adding millions of users to the revolution, there is a need to review the charges.

We Say: While we have always seen things from the users perspective, this time around too, we believe this move would bring down rates. And with new entrants waiting for their turn to unleash their services, the review would further widen the scope of a price war. However, we expect the process to take some time to be implemented.

BPL partners with Mumbai Police

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BPL Mobile along with Hyderabad based IMImobile has partnered with the Mumbai Police to make Mumbai roads safer. This is being done through a service, currently being used by the Mumbai Police to book cases of drinking and driving.

The service: The mobile based service helps the cops identify people who have already been caught and penalised for such cases, by just SMSing the license number of the person’s car to a confidential number. Through this system, the cops can take strict action against people who have been charged for the same more than once. Also, the records can be updated at the same time, thus making it more cop-friendly.

According to the officials, this service has helped them considerably, especially with its prompt response. It is believed that the service will help make Mumbai roads a lot more safer.

We Say: On one hand BPL is trying to fulfill its share of responsibility and at the same time setting an awesome example to other operators. We hope to see the others follow with similar steps.

MTNL’s Gold Bonanza – showering you with Gold

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MTNL is giving out Gold to its users as a part of a lucky draw. All you need to do is recharge with a minimum amount of Rs.300 (Trump users) or have a bill of Rs.300 (Dolphin users). Also, MTNL is providing its users with more talktime at the same amount i.e. Rs.300 and Rs.525 as talktime on its Rs.300 and Rs.500 recharges.

Very simply, you can increase your chances of winning by making MTNL happier and buying more reharges or having heavy bills. There is 250 gms of Gold up for grabs, with the contest running till the 30th of this month. Just call 1503 for more details.

Shyam Telelink sets a new benchmark

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Shyam Telelink is making themselves count as a formidable competitor. They had launched their CDMA service sometime back in the Rajasthan circle under the alliance with Sistema by launching its telecom brand “Rainbow” in the state.

Within 42 days of its launch, Shyam Telelink has created history in the Indian Telecom sector by registering 100,000 subscribers since inception. The brand Rainbow spans over 12,000 villages and 600 cities in Rajasthan.

Looks like this company has come all charged and prepared to face out competition and create space for itself in this highly congested market. According to the CEO of Shyam Telelink Mr. Vsevolod Rozanov, their company is well prepared and placed to launch services in other circles as per schedule.

Idea launches HTC Touch Pro and the Touch Viva

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Idea Cellular has collaborated with Taiwan’s premium handset manufacturer HTC Corp to offer two touch phone models in India, namely the HTC Touch Pro and the Touch Viva.

HTC Touch Pro targeted at business class introduces QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office documents quick and easy. It also features a 2.8-inch display, TouchFLO 3D and built-in TV-Out functionality. HTC Touch Viva on the other hand is an upgrade over the original Touch with GPS and Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

HTC Touch Pro is priced at Rs. 34,900 whereas Touch Viva will sell at Rs. 16,490 at all Idea stores across the country.

Airtel strikes the right chord…again

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Airtel has done it again with their new commercial. With the right elements, this ad touches each and every Indian. It brings out the core values and somehow manages to put across its message to the consumers. The core elements: The family, the village setting and the attachment between the father and son beats any other ad in its clan.

Though the idea may not be to sell, it surely adds to the brand value. We think that the Indian touch along with its great selection of actors is what makes the ad stand out. Bharti’s move to have ads based on the same platform seem to have worked, but they tend to evaporate too soon, unlike other ads in the category.

However, in terms of adding equity, and getting the rural consumer interested, this ad definitely does the job for Airtel. And with millions of them enrolling themselves to the telecom revolution, this might just touch the right chord at the right time.

GSM subscriber base touches 242 million in October

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While all other industry sectors are facing the effects of the global financial turmoil, India’s telecom sector is green as ever. The total GSM mobile users at the end of October was at around 242 million with October alone having a record subscriber addition of 8 million. It broke the previous best of 7.7 million that was witnessed in September. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has anticipated that the GSM base would cross the 250 million mark by December.

The biggest gainer as usual was Bharti Airtel with 2.7 million new subscribers taking its total user base to past 80 million. Vodafone Essar added more than 2 million new users and accounted a total of 56 million subscribers. State owned BSNL managed to get 6.7 lakh new users, taking its total count to 39.8 million.

Where’s the quality service??

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It’s definitely not a pleasant feeling to be disturbed by a call from a telemarketer trying to sell stuff that you don’t need. But the feeling is even worse when the person on the other side of the call is quite informal and uses the worst tone possible to sell stuff to you. In my case, if i am in the middle of something, i wouldn’t entertain even a person with the best etiquette.

Clearly evident by the experience (Vodafone) was the shift in the focus of Telcos –  from quality service to purely selling stuff. It also highlighted the fact that the representatives aren’t well trained to handle calls and their core objective being to fulfill periodic sales targets. Slowly and steadily consumers are losing trust and loyalty, thanks to such useless service support.

Though the market is becoming extremely competitive, quality services would always help provide an edge over competition, though not in the short-term but in the long-term. We sincerely hope Telcos do not turn a blind eye to their constantly deteriorating service.

Operators will share revenue with Govt. for 3G airwaves

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With the date for the 3G bids set, it’s time to get some clarity on the revenue aspect. Apart from spending big money to bid for the 3G spectrum, Indian telcos will have to shell out more if they secure the spectrum.

DoT has made it clear that a certain percentage will be charged to operators using 3G airwaves. They have also added that a current player in the market will have share 1% percent more as compared to 3% for the newest entrants.

However, this move has not been conceived well by most of the existing telcos. A two percent discount for old telcos comes because they already share around 2-6% of their revenues for offering 2G services and with an extra percent means now they’ll have to share anything in between 3-7%. Companies want an incremental share of revenues for using 3G services because 3G would be used by a niche crowd and a direct percent sharing means more money to the government even if the operator hasn’t used much of the 3G airwaves.

Source: ET

MTNL My Group Plan for Trump users

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Group Plans are becoming popular among service providers. With all major operators having one in their offering basket, it was high time MTNL joined the league. The step, though late, would be welcomed well by users,

Here are the details of the plan, which is named My Group Plan:

  • Monthly charges: Rs.30
  • Registering a number in the group: Rs.10
  • Calling and SMS within the group: 10paise
  • Only Dolphin and Trump numbers allowed
  • A maximum limit of 10 members allowed

You could get your clan registered and enjoy calling at the lowest rates possible by calling 1503/9869012345 (Toll Free) The plan, though a good one, does not live upto the other plans introduced by the operator.