raccoon

Hmm, is it? But is their stand legally defensible? IIRC, it is not mentioned explicitly in the rules.

It is an absolute no brainer that this is done deliberately by telcos. AirHELL is doing this on a massive scale. And TRAI is innocently asking them to identify the cause? How much more hilarious can it get? Unknowingly responding and activating VAS service by less informed consumers is quite another issue, and I'd say of much lesser importance. Companies like AirHELL and even Reliance to some extent (and maybe others too, to a lesser degree) are activating VAS services without any action (deliberate or mistaken) on the customers side. And thru the above report, it seems TRAI is pretending to be ignorant.

That reason sounds about as illegal as it can get. I guess all operators should give some small freebies to customers... like some free SMS or data or something and then use it to block port-out requests. DOT/TRAI are just enjoying this drama, i guess...

They seem nice. Hope they can come up with good stuff. Would hate to see the mobile OS space dominated by just couple players. Just imagine, you have an Android and everyone around you also has Androids only... how boring!! Besides you don't get to score brownie points against other OSs either...

Thats the point - can't trust them. If they have left it out, it could hint at something fishy.

Wow, they have mentioned SAR values in the main highlights! And for a change, it is on the lower side, esp. for Chinese phones. But no units are mentioned?

How/where did you get the phones at that price??

This is exactly what the operators want!! If I were you, if I decide to leave, I will do it, with or even without the number. If you give up, you have conceded that dirty tricks can and do work. If you have the time and means, you could consider sending all the concerned parties a legal notice, along with demand for concession and expenses, etc. The bigger part of the blame must go to DoT/TRAI. they have formulated a system with such obvious holes, no accountability and redressor. Maybe this too was done deliberately.

Is it??? Please come and check out the situation here. When I was on RCDMA, there used to be no coverage/iffy coverage on many/most highways. My friends with GSM phones (esp. Idea) had good coverage at most places. I don't know if they have improved RCDMA coverage since then, but now with RGSM, many places I have visited out of town have no/poor coverage. And btw all these places I am talking about are covered well by other operators. AirHELL maybe just bit better wrt coverage only.

Can't understand this logic - you really want millions of telecom consumers to suffer higher tariffs just to "teach the fools who are crying on the notional loss"? Btw, notional loss aside, there has definitely been a lot of foul play regarding the telecom scandal. Aren't you forgetting the other other issues that constitute the scam? I would strongly oppose any move that increases tariffs. Sibal's contention that competition will keep a check on tariffs seems like utter nonsense. If costs go up, tariffs will increase, this way or that. Further what about tariff plans that are already in place? Esp. post paid plans... and evne some pre-paid ones that come with lifetime tariff validity? If costs increase significantly and telcos cannot increase tariffs, it will bleed them. Telcos have to make a reasonable profit, if they are to provide for costs, network expansion and good service.

Considering the specs, the price seems bit high. Screen res. not mentioned?

+1 Interesting article. Thanks for posting. But... I don't think so?? 1,800 MHz does not directly mean that voice clarity will be poor. Indirectly, it could happen, due to lesser in-building penetration. Even otherwise, I have observed here that 1,800 operators like Uninor and Docomo (to a lesser degree currently) have voice clarity equal to 900 MHz operators like Idea, Voda. Of course, lot of other variables matter... Even Aircel voice clarity is not bad... though signal intensity is not so good at my residence. Still IMHO, 900 MHz should certainly be redistributed, for other advantages, and to maintain a level playing field.

RCom probably does not have the cash for it... lol!

Hmm ok... if you say so. Haven't had the time to go into it, but its all over the news today. Anyway, if not this one, how long before the next scam is anybody's guess. After all, this govt. is greatest scam specialist.

Right, its more than obvious that the aim of the scheme is to prevent port-outs in the short/medium term. And Rs. 1000, seems to be just the sweet spot to prevent it, without them loosing too much. I still didn't exactly understand what happened in your case. You registered for the double TT offer by registering your number on the FB app., which kept failing/throwing errors for nearly 2 hours. You finally succeeded, but yet they did not give you full TT? Is that what happened? As you might remember - in my case their excus is that the recharge failed. May be deliberate, but its also clear that their systems and network are still half-baked. Gawd knows when they will get things to run as they should.

Sad... else I would have threatened them for not giving me the promised double TT. But heck, they ticked me off so much, and wasted my time, I just might actually do it soon and not just threaten...

Defy is significantly higher priced, so can't say it is a direct competitor. Good specs... esp. if the price comes down a bit. But again same old v boring design from Samsung. Would have liked to buy this over Optimus One. Things are changing so fast, whatever you buy, something better will be out in just 2-3 months... sigh!

Has anybody got retention offer for pre-paid?

@Kanaga, thats awesome! They denied you the FB double TT offer too?? What reason did they cite in your case?

"Total chaos of corruption" is ALREADY here!! Letters like this, while they highlight the current state of things well, are not going to change anything. Quite insignificant in the scheme of things. Btw, one more scam (ISRO spectrum deal) waiting to be served. Hot, freshly baked and yummy, right from the Sardar's oven. Stay tuned and enjoy the "total chaos of corruption".

You had to threaten a port-out or something? Waiting for your details....

Dude, does the version of Android or for that matter Android itself matter matter so much for your parents? Unless they can appreciate the things Andy can do, it will be a waste for them. Also all the other phones suggested are significantly more expensive. GS5 in fact has a smaller screen. Both the Nokias have 3.2" screen with the best resolution (nHD) by far, in its class. Whats more, Android phones are generally known to have poorer battery life. Also, some Samsung phones have been known to have issues with GPS. Don't know to what extent this is an issue with the GS 5/3 though. IMHO, for the intended purpose 5230 is best suited... or if you are ok with less accurate co-ordinates, then of course you can save another 1k or so with 5233.

MNP seems to be a real mess. I really wonder how they (DOT, TRAI) did not forsee these issues. Unless these operators are penalized for every port-out request they are illegally blocking, I don't see how things will change much in the future. They will keep inventing excuses like these and keep harassing random/higher ARPU customers.

Nokia 5233? That has only A-GPS. I believe GPS will be lot more desirable for your purpose, so go for Nokia 5230. This phone is supposed to be one of the best for GPS, in its price range. It comes with Ovi maps free (no data required) for life but I'm not sure there is any app. like Latittude which you can use with it (hopefully, others here may be able to give you more specific info). So you may have to use Google maps, and for that you need data connection. Even if there is an app. like Latittude for Ovi, you will require data connection to at least transfer location co-ordinates. If you want to go for 5233, I have seen accuracy of typically upto 700 - 800 m radius. IMO thats not accurate enough for your purpose. Though I'm guessing, in Bombay, the accuracy is likely to be better (denser population). As for Docomo, though the data plan is probably the cheapest, I have heard from friends that Docomo network is not at all good in Bombay. So please check (specifically for data) that 1st before you get Docomo.

Wish I had a memory like yours. But memory can be a double edged sword... With your kind of memory, you can a dream moderator... you'd know right off where to pigeonhole what, what is repeated, search for what, etc.