Vodafone to Disconnect Inactive Prepaid Users, Wishful Thinking or a Forced Decision

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If you’re an irregular Vodafone customer, you’re in for some inconvenience. Vodafone’s latest decision to weed out all irregular users has come as a bad news for its subscribers. Before Vodafone, Bharti Airtel had taken this road and discontinued all connections inactive for 60 days or more and caused a furore in the market. Vodafone’s decision follows the Department of Telecom’s inflexible guidelines for allocation of new number series. They blame an acute shortage of new numbers for this unfortunate event.

While this decision won’t quite hurt regular customers, it is most certainly bad news for those prepaid subscribers who have not used their numbers for a long time. So whether you’re a student  studying away from your hometown, a professional constantly travelling all over the country and using multiple numbers to avoid roaming charges or simply someone who’s currently checking out different providers to find the one that best suits them, Vodafone isn’t a friendly option anymore. This decision is also bound to hit the lifetime subscribers who recharge once in six months to keep the SIM active. To keep your Vodafone numbers from being disconnected, we suggest you recharge every two months.


Online Recharge Leader FreeCharge makes internet recharge easy

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Free recharge, launched in 2010, has already garnered popularity and emerged as a leader in online recharge options in Indian internet scheme. It offers prepaid mobile, DTH recharge and options of internet recharge of Data Card plans. The innovative services offered in the recharge space have helped freerecharge.in bag the pole position in the domain. Not just that, but its recent tie ups with Mastercard have ensured it maintains its lead and spreads its wings beyond the realm of internet users. This multiyear partnership has ensured that more Indians are attracted by Data Card Recharges and other online transactions, mainly due to the ease of its use.  

Prepaid Mobile Plans are its freebie attached services- one of its special attractions. Attractive offers and coupon system is employed by it and home delivery of coupons to the customers availing online recharge services tops it up to drive home an amazing online recharge experience. This offer is in tie up with top brands like McDonalds, Cafe coffee Day etc. Free recharge clearly knows what its customers i.e. students and working professionals need and it has delivered high on that. All in all, it’s indeed one of its kind services, a pioneer in online recharge system.


Airtel joins hands with Softbank to offer mobile internet services- What difference would it bring?

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With Indian telecom market players looking to penetrate into or expand every possible hue of mobile service that is being offered or can be a major draw, Bharti Airtel has steadily earned a name for itself an aggressive competitor. Its recent announcements about its foray into internet eco structure of Indian telecom users has attracted attention of many a trade pundits with some calling it as game changer in long term. As Airtel Internet introduces its 4G services in near future, the game gets fascinating.

BSB( Bharti Softbank holdings), Airtel’s joint venture with Japanese telecom operator Softbank has provided Airtel Mobile Internet with Softbank’s wealth of experience in social media and e-commerce domains. Soft bank also brings the knowledge of catering to a strong 27 million subscriber base to the table. With Japanese gaming industry at an all time high, BSB is sure to take India’s budding internet gaming industry to the next level.

Airtel Mobile Plans that Bharti formulates from now on will focus a lot on involving the BSB endeavours in its basic offerings in 3G and 4G sectors, so all Bharti users should keep an eye on the new announcements of Airtel Postpaid Plans. Christmas is arriving early for you this year!


It’s Reliance this time – Reliance to Bring 4G Services in 2012

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Trust that big R to stay in tune with the needs of the lowest denominator and come up with alluring plans of mass appeal. Internet, they say, will never be the same again once 4G is launched here, and mid 2012 is the date Reliance internet has zeroed on for the launch. Reliance 3G has already tasted a resounding success and it’s on the back of the same wave that 4G services are being launched.

The Mukesh Ambani led company has already announced its plans to offer 50-100 mbps services and these premium offerings will be available in about 700 towns across the country. Now that’s what you call hitting the souk with a vengeance. RIL’s Infotel license will play a major role in this epic enterprise.

After the 3G tablets flooded the market this year, next year is likely ruled by android tablets powered by the performance of Reliance Mobile Internet’s 4G services. Insiders claim talks are on with Chinese and Taiwanese tablet providers for the same. If Reliance continues to offer them at economical prices as is its tradition, it will be interesting to see who matches the Reliance Mobile Plans come next summer.


3G failure: Users move away from services predicted to change the mobile experience

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The hype surrounding 3G has proved to be its undoing. 3G services for all their marketing frenzy have proved to be a dud and the sceptics are rejoicing. With doubts being raised about the market operators technical capabilities to deliver on the promised speeds way before their launch, only a stellar showing would have dispelled the doubt mongers. But rising instances of call drops, slow speeds coupled with high prices have ensured that the percentage of customers intending to switch to 3G remains same the same as last year.

Idea 3G, Idea Netsetter 3G, Reliance 3G and Docomo 3G are few of the gainers in the 3G race. But even their speeds seem to have fallen to low levels as compared to the speeds offered in initial few days. Though customers are being assured that this is just a passing phase and the speeds will be back to their blazing self, it’s not enough an assurance they are willing to gulp down. Some have already started switching back to their 2.5G enabled services as the speeds are similar to 3G offerings.

With over 20 billion dollars being spent by telecom majors in Indian circles for 3G launches, this certainly is a setback to them and raises questions over future generational launches too.


Regulation on SMS limit – Will it make life more peaceful?

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Though TRAI (telecom authority of India) decided to rein in the telemarketers who sent SMS in bulk to many subscribers, leaving them irate, the medicine seems to have ruffled quite a few common people. Its decision to limit the SMS to 100 per day from any given number has resulted in deaf society being hit the most. SMS was the primary medium of easy communication amongst the hearing-impaired and their family. Now these people have been sent scouring for cheap, cost saving mobile plans.

Another badly hit community due to curtailed SMS packs is the stock brokers. Already reeling under the effects of downhill economy and shrinking margins, they have also been unable to communicate with their clients and take inputs.

If this is not enough, even the taxi and car rental agencies have been left in distress. Most of their cab availability status, driver confirmation details and cab details were sent via SMS to the customers and now this has been a growing cause of concern for them; ditto with ‘Dial an Auto’ initiatives.

But a bright spot, and a major one at that, is the instant strap effect on pesky telemarketers who bombarded people with messages at all ungodly hours. Although for students who count on cheap and easiest communication medium of SMS to save their pocket money, this has indeed been a setback. It’s a classic case of people at large being affected due to few rotten oranges.


Mobile Number Portability affecting the telecom industry

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MNP (Mobile Number Portability) was introduced this year by the telecom ministry and has been welcomed with mixed reactions amongst both subscribers and operators. While people in Gujarat have been on forefront of availing this service, their enthusiasm isn’t shared by all.

In order to grab customer’s attention as well as poach other subscribers, all major mobile service providers have been aggressively marketing on the lines of ‘save your bills’ or ‘customer satisfaction’. Some with ability to deliver have been clear winners. Take IDEA for instance. Of around 13 lakhs MNP requests in first 2 months across the country, IDEA grabbed almost 2 lakhs. That’s a huge number for any single provider to gain. Other preferred services include Vodafone and Airtel.

While subscribers in Northern and Western India have clearly shown their resentment towards services which are low on customer satisfaction, customers in Karnataka and Hyderabad have not notched up matching numbers. Kolkata also seems to be quite satisfied with its present mobile cover and hasn’t seen any major swing in requests for MNP despite many advertisers targeting the 4 major metropolitan cities in the country.

It might also be because only a few know that MNP is applicable across all technologies. Again the paperwork and 90-day lock period may prove to be a hindrance. To add to it, one never knows how good the service you are choosing might prove. Hence some choose to stay with trusted service providers. Let’s keep an eye on how it fares in near future.


India does it again – launches world’s cheapest tablet, Akash

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If it’s economy you are looking for, look nowhere else but India. This adage has gained ground with Indian government’s recent launch of Akash – the ‘Made in India’ internet device which is being hailed as the world’s cheapest computing tablet. Priced at a shade over Rs.2000 without the subsidy, if this tablet does reach even half of the 800 million users in India and the target audience – educational institutions in villages, Akash would have been a major success.

Though it is unfair to compare these government initiatives with something like a Samsung Galaxy Tab which costs almost 20 times and has pitted itself against iPad2, Akash does have the support of about 1000 institutions with wireless networks and is expected to be used by them as a tool for efficient learning and easy interaction. Powered by Data wind, it boasts of Conexant processor with an Android 2.2. It also has an 800 x 480 touch screen.

But what remains to be seen is how market will react to the earlier ‘cheapest tab’ place holder – the Reliance 3G Tab. Chinese telecom company ZTE has been instrumental in getting this tab to Indian markets at a price of 12999 Rs. Little did any one expect Akash to eat into its potential market. With Google’s Gingerbread OS and 32 GB storage, it does have significant advantage over Akash. Which one of the two delivers and sustains itself in long run is for the customers to decide.


Increasing Demands android applications – Take a peek at some of the most downloaded applications

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Recently Google let out an open secret and put a staggering number to it – a whopping 3 billion. Yes, that’s the number of android applications which have been downloaded from market with consummate rage by the users. No wonder it wants a share of this rapidly evolving market and is coming up with its Ice cream sandwich OS after Gingerbread and Honeycomb. Let’s sneak a quick look at the table topper applications for android that are best enjoyed on 3G mobile services.

While ‘Android Market’ mobile application takes the cake with both males and females, the runner ups – Google search, Gmail and Google maps share their podium with Facebook but not in same order as far as both the sexes go. This is followed by the video encyclopedia- Youtube and the recent craze – Angry birds’ game. On the one hand Adobe readers are must with guys and on the other, not so surprisingly, Twitter usage is on rise amongst the ladies.

Nielsen surveys have clearly underlined the supremacy of Google apps and in its bid to maintain its iron clad control over top 5 positions, Google is already planning to launch an online store for music lovers. It would be facing huge competition from iTunes. As of now only EMI group has been close to finalizing a deal with Google for this. With Google nexus prime due for a launch soon, it seems android users have lots to look forward to this year from the search engine giants.


Bsnl launch with 100 mbps broadband speed

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India’s largest cellular service provider and state’s telecommunication arm – BSNL, has come up with a trump card of its own. To rival the late surge of its competitors in private domain, especially reliance and Tata photon cards in the last few years, BSNL has come up with an ambitious project. It is set to offer its customers an unmatched broadband speed of 100 mbps, with its trial run to be flagged off in country’s IT hub – Pune.

With the aggressive marketing of data cards by private sector and local service providers on its tails, a slash in rates was but imperative for BSNL. But it surprised everyone by going the other way and coming up with an ace at that.  What appears to be an expansion-aimed throw of dice from the brains behind this move, the plan has directly targeted the high speed internet users across all verticals. Though it remains to be seen whether the competitors will hold their ground or react to this news, it nevertheless has opened plethora of options for the customers.

With a staggering customer base of around 27 million across the country, if this plan does deliver on what it promises to, BSNL’s racehorse would be a hard one to rein in. Keep watching this space to know what happens in near future.