» Loop Mobile

Sandip Basu takes the helm (again) at Loop Mobile

Kunal Gangar — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:08:04 +0000

Sandip Basu has joined Loop Mobile as the new CEO. With an expertise of more over 25 years, Sandip has joined Loop Mobile after serving as an MD and CEO at XCEL Telecom that worked as a passive infrastructure provider.

Sandip in a way, is returning back to the company since he worked as an Executive Director and CEO with the BPL Mobile Group from 1997 to 2005. He’ll be in charge of Loop Mobile’s national launch as well as strengthening its existence in Mumbai.

Loop Mobile is one of the new operators to gain a Pan-India license and have already initiated its services in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa.

Loop Mobile loops into TN & Orissa circles

Kunal Gangar — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Loop Mobile has put its first step out of the Mumbai circle. After gaining a pan-India license, Loop Mobile has announced their first destinations – Tamil Nadu and Orissa. This makes them the first operator amongst the freshly acquired licensees.

Loop Telecom will also be soft launching the service in three other states by mid June: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The sequence of circles launch is in sync with the sequence of the spectrum allocation.

Exclusive: All (GSM) Blackberry Plans reviewed

Rohan Kamath — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:26:38 +0000

Ed’s Note: Our overworked brains ditched us. Sorry for the goof up, we have added the plans and edited the story accordingly.

When TeleGyaan did an exclusive review of MTNL’s 2G/3G plans, one of our avid readers voiced his opinion and asked us to look at other operators in the landscape. Given the reader-friendly blog we are, here is a post comparing all the GSM – Blackberry plans on offer::

BIS/ BES P-I (for individual/enterprise users)
Monthly rent: Rs.299/ 425
No free usage
Data charge: 30p/40p per Kb

BIS/ BES P-II (for individual/enterprise users)
Monthly Rent: Rs. 499/ 625
500 Kb of free usage
Data charge: 15p/ 20p per Kb

BIS/ BES P-III (for individual users)
Monthly Rent: 999/ 875
Unlimited data usage

We Say: Though the plans might be somewhat in line with that of MTNL, monthly charges as well as variable data usage charges are comparatively lower. However the operator is offering you the best speeds available in the country – 3G speeds.

Our Pick: If you can shell out a thousand bucks, the unlimited plan is the one for you. It will make sure that your Blackberry is used optimally.

Prosumer Lite 299
Monthly Rent: Rs.299
Unlimited Access to 10 email accounts
Prosumer Service
Monthly Rent: Rs.1099
Unlimited email and internet access

We Say: Kindly note that these plans offer 2G (EDGE) speeds. If you’re an email and a messenger junkie, Prosumer Lite is the thing to go for or else the full fledged Prosumer plan will keep you busy with access to social networking sites, stocks et al.

Airtel plans are on the lines of Vodafone’s but there’s one more plan added to the basket:

Plan 1 (Only Email and IM)
Monthly Rent: Rs.299
Unlimited Access to 10 email accounts
Plan 2
Monthly Rent: Rs.499
Free Usage: 500KB; extra usage at 50paise/KB
Plan 3
Monthly Rent: Rs.1099
Unlimited

We Say: 2G speeds again. Again, the decision is pretty simple to make. More Email = Plan 1 or if you’ve got a decent surfing go for the unlimited one. The plan sitting in the middle actually does not make sense. Even though they have tried to give some relief to moderate surfers 500KB and a 50p charge after that is like…forget it!

Loop Mobile has two Blackberry plans for its users::

Plan #1
Monthly Rent: Rs. 499
Free data usage: 500 kb
Data charges: 10p/ Kb

Plan #2
Monthly Rent: Rs.999
Unlimited data usage

We Say:Loop has just got it right. If you’re looking to surf as well as do email on your Blackberry, I think they offer at very competitive prices.

Here is another operator, which has planned to play it simple and straight:

Monthly Rent: Rs.899
Unlimited Blackberry services

We Say: Take it or leave it seems to be the motto of Idea. They offer single plan with no barrier and I guess they win in terms of rent when it comes to unlimited usage.

The Final Verdict

Firstly, we feel that none of the plans, except the unlimited plans, offer great value for money, especially the data charges for all plans and the strange funda of half an Mb of free usage.

If you need speed with your Blackberry service i.e. a 3G service to power your Blackberry, you have two options BSNL and MTNL. With the latter – MTNL being priced too high, we would recommend going for BSNL’s unlimited plan.

If 2G is fine with you, we would definitely go for Vodafone or Airtel’s smart plans – Rs.299 unlimited, which will offer you the basic benefits at an affordable price. After all, Blackberry is all about emailing.

Loop Mobile introduces its own Bazaar

Rohan Kamath — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:23:55 +0000

Loop (BPL) Mobile has launched its very own online bazaar called as Mobile Bazaar. Currently on offer are some T-shirts with wacky lines, wrist watches, perfumes and electronics. However, none of the products being sold here seem to be branded and are being offered at cheap prices (except the electronics).

We personally think that the products on offer aren’t great at all and selling it online makes it even worse. We do not see many users coming to Loop’s Bazaar and buying stuff and won’t be surprised if it shuts shop in sometime.

BPL Mobile will now be known as Loop Mobile

Kunal Gangar — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:49:40 +0000

Remember ‘Get in the Loop’ campaign initiated by BPL Mobile way back in 2007? Well, it was just a first step towards a progressive migration because from today midnight, BPL Mobile will be known as Loop Mobile. The transition is the result of BPL Mobile’s rapid growth and also the deployment of NGIP (Next Generation Internet Protocol) and EDGE technologies.

We Say: We respect BPL Mobile because of being the oldest network standing in Mumbai but we hope it improves its service along with the rebranding. Yea, we know BPL Mobile attained good rankings in TRAI’s QoS standards but there’s a lot to be done.

What do you think? Will change in the name change the customer perception (or even fortunes) for them?

Here’s an ad which you might see more often from tomorrow.

Click for a bigger version

» Loop Mobile

Sandip Basu takes the helm (again) at Loop Mobile

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Loop Mobile loops into TN & Orissa circles

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Exclusive: All (GSM) Blackberry Plans reviewed

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Loop Mobile introduces its own Bazaar

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BPL Mobile will now be known as Loop Mobile

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