The Mobile Phone Thread

[Solitaire]

13k

 

[Death Stryke]

So Airtel has decided to screw with us on GRPS also. Now that its given such huge public notice, its legally not doing anything wrong.

 

First the atrocious broadband FUPs, and now this

 

 

I wonder what happens to the Rs. 98 2 gb plan tho

[AtheK]

i just recharged today with 98 bucks plan...i think its pretty awesome actually 95 for 2 GB,

[Death Stryke]

This plan has been in existence for quite a while. 1-2 years I think. But now I dont know what will happen to it after this public notice in one konaa of the newpaper

[Solitaire]

This plan has been in existence for quite a while. 1-2 years I think. But now I dont know what will happen to it after this public notice in one konaa of the newpaper

 

They want to be cocks, it's obvious from their new logo

[vbhoj74]

I've been on the same 98 bucks plan since more than a year now, guess thats the cheapest across all VSPs at present.

[Solitaire]

After winning that Nexus S, I've been browsing a lot about the various GPRS plans out there cos I thought maybe I should use the phone to the max. I haven't used much of mobile internet until now.

 

I've been on Vodafone prepaid for quite a while now and noticed that, as such, they had the worst plans among service providers. Especially how they said 2gb for Rs. 98 per month and then slyly neglected to inform you that the said bonus card would only let you browse through Vodafone live (VL) but not let any of your apps use it. For being able to use it with anything other than the stock web browser on your phone, or to connect with your PC, you needed to use the MUCH more expensive Vodafone Mobile Connect plans. (VMC)

 

Now their new website (which was in beta) has launched there seems to be a big change in that plan (though a different section of the site doesn't show that change) atleast on the Chennai circle section of their site.

 

 

If you hit Top Up (after choosing Chennai) under Prepaid ---> Tick Bonus Card ---> Then Find Offers ---> Go a few pages left or right (and then come back to page 8 of 11) you'll find this:

 

 

 

though the specific Vodafone Mobile Connect page on another section of the site makes no mention of it.

 

Has anyone tried this??

 

 

I've also been trawling through a number of online forums and some people seem to be saying that they've been able to use their apps and such on this 98 plan for the past month or so atleast in some circles.

[Death Stryke]

Gaurav is setting up everything for an imminent arrival

[Solitaire]

Gaurav is setting up everything for an imminent arrival

 

 

Lol yeah... pretty excited though it may take a few weeks..

[AtheK]

cheapest is do co mo, i was using that 95 bucks for 6 GB, there network sucks is a diff story all together

[vbhoj74]

Dont know if anything changed with vodafone recently, but their 98 bucks plan only entailed WAP connectivity where you can only browse their own sites for add on mobile services & apps. For GPRS I think the min they had was 250 bucks/mth.

[Solitaire]

Dont know if anything changed with vodafone recently, but their 98 bucks plan only entailed WAP connectivity where you can only browse their own sites for add on mobile services & apps. For GPRS I think the min they had was 250 bucks/mth.

 

Yes, that's what I thought too, then I saw this on their page and a few mentions by some people early this month on places like indiabroadbandforum.com or .in or whatever saying that it had changed. If it has, then it would be at par with the rest of the network providers ....

[AtheK]

or probably its a last push before they launch 3G services, so that more people take up 3G by leting go of GPRS.

 

Do co mo has a plan of 750 bucks, 500 MB data and 1200 minutes of call. more then enough for mobile browsing.

[Solitaire]

or probably its a last push before they launch 3G services, so that more people take up 3G by leting go of GPRS.

 

Do co mo has a plan of 750 bucks, 500 MB data and 1200 minutes of call. more then enough for mobile browsing.

 

But I can't switch to Docomo now :|

[Death Stryke]

I read 3G is on hold because the fking Govt wants real time tracking of video calls and is not satisfied with being able to trace 11 minutes after the call. So we dumb down for them

[Noctis]

I read 3G is on hold because the fking Govt wants real time tracking of video calls and is not satisfied with being able to trace 11 minutes after the call. So we dumb down for them

 

Yeah that was absurd. It seems our Intelligence agents expect everyone to avoid technological upgrades because of their incompetence in catching up.

 

Remember the whole blackberry issue, only that this is ten times worse. (they want everything except voice calls to be barred from 3g, even internet usage)

[Death Stryke]

Yeah same thing. And the weirdest thing is BSNL and MTNL have been running 3G for over a year now and now they wake up from their slumber? The operators paid through their nose for the 3G spectrum auctions, I am pretty sure with all these delays and escalating costs, they will pass on the extra burden to the customer.

[AtheK]

But I can't switch to Docomo now :|

you don't want to, there network is pathetic, i have suffered for 2 months before i finally chucked the sim in the bin yesterday.

 

@3G debate - i think you can not use it for video calls, internet usage is not an issue. I can be wrong though.

[Solitaire]

you don't want to, there network is pathetic, i have suffered for 2 months before i finally chucked the sim in the bin yesterday.

 

 

[Cash]

Pesky call ban may get pushed to Feb

Quote

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is likely to extend the January 1, 2011, deadline to end unsolicited calls and SMSes by a month (early February 2011), after mobile operators expressed their inability to meet the time limit, citing technical and network upgrade problems, besides contractual obligations with telemarketing companies.

 

Trai said it cannot extend the January 1 deadline for unsolicited calls and SMSes beyond a month. The operators had told the regulator that they will need four to six months for making the "Do Not Call Regulations" system operational.

 

Telecom operators have also approached the department of telecom (DoT) to seek a four to six months extension of deadline in order to set- up proper infrastructure to stop telemarketing calls.

 

"The operators have told us that they have other obligations like MNP (mobile number portability which has to be rolled- out across the country from January 20, 2011) and have work piled up for upgrading their infrastructure. But we cannot stretch the deadline beyond a month as there has been lot of hue and cry over the issue and we don't want to invite public's ire," said a Trai official.

 

"We have also told them that they have already delayed MNP for over a year. They cannot keep doing that. We cannot keep their business interests at the cost of the interests of the subscribers. Operators will delay the implementation by a month's time because of certain security concerns," the Trai official added.

 

However, there has been no official confirmation from Trai in this regard.

 

Telecom operators are desperate to buy more time because of the high stakes involved - the bulk SMS business in India is worth over ` 250 crore annually.

 

Service operators sell packages of about 1 lakh bulk SMSes for charges ranging between 2000 and 4000.

 

On December 1, 2010, Trai had come out with guidelines on unsolicited telemarketing calls and SMSes, which were to be implemented from January 1, 2011.

 

"We have approached Trai to give telecom operators some more time to comply with the necessary security concerns and also so that they can set- up their infrastructure to filter the calls to stop unsolicited telemarketing calls," Cellular Operators Association of India ( COAI) director general, Rajan S. Mathew said.

 

"It is unlikely that telecom operators will meet the January 1 deadline as it needs time to put in place infrastructure so that you can filter the calls and stop pesky calls. The operators are asking for one to four months time in order to comply with Trai's guidelines," said S. C. Khanna, secretary general, Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi), which represents the CDMA operators said.

 

Trai had come out with a fresh set of recommendations because the earlier 'Do Not Call Registry' system had proved ineffective. Unsolicited commercial communications are among among the biggest nuisances for telecom consumers.

 

Only 11 per cent (seven crore) of the 65 crore mobile phone users in India are registered with the 'Do Not Call' Directory.

 

According to the new guidelines a 'Do Call Directory' system will also be introduced, wherein the numbers of only those consumers who are interested in receiving telemarketing calls would be entered. This, in effect, means that the telemarketers would lose the bulk of their consumers and their reach would shrink substantially.

 

On August 12 this year, Trai had organised an open- house discussion on the issue with various stakeholders. The meet was virtually sabotaged and hijacked by the telecom operators, leaving no chance for consumers to put across their view.

 

The major operators offering services to telemarketers include Tata TeleServices, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Loop, among others.

 

A different set of numbers starting with '70' will be issued to telemarketers so that any unregistered subscribers can identify commercial calls and decide whether to accept or reject them.

 

Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserve

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