trial

They have replaced SMS to Many with "Msg Express"... and guess what - all messages are billed at 80p... so bye bye to free sms for DAPO

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/1...12603120400.htm AFTER initiating measures to bring down STD tariffs, the Government is now planning to simplify the dialling process for long distance calls by merging 2,645 STD codes in the country into 322. This is as a result of a proposal being considered by the Department of Telecom to allow operators to interconnect at the long distance charging area (LDCA), equivalent to a district exchange, instead of the present system of connecting at the short distance charging area (SDCA), which is equivalent to a tehsil. As per the existing numbering plan, each of the 2,645 SDCAs in the country have a different STD code. The latest proposal, which is part of the draft new telecom policy, would mean that the codes would be assigned to the LDCA. For example, at the moment there are at least seven SDCAs within Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, each with its own STD code. If the proposal comes through, then the entire Coimbatore district including Mettupalayam and Pollochi can be reached by dialling `0422'. Similarly, in Pune currently there are 20 STD codes for various places such as Lonavala, Kedgaon and Baramati. Once the new system comes into place, the whole of Pune can be reached by dialling the code `020'. The move is being planned as part of the Government's policy initiative to further liberalise the long distance sector. Recently the Communications Ministry had announced plans to bring in uniform tariffs across the country through the India One tariff from January 1 onwards. According to a draft of the New Telecom Policy, the STD rates may fall to below Re 1. The Government has also reduced the entry fee for long distance licence to Rs 2.5 crore from Rs 100 crore, paving the way for intense competition in the sector. The Government is also initiating the implementation of the carrier access codes (CAC), which will enable users to choose the long distance operator depending on the quality of service and tariff. Market watchers said that consumers could soon get city-specific tariffs where one operator could be offering better rates on particular routes.

Dear Customer, We thank you for being a valued member of the Reliance Infocomm family. To enable us serve you better, we take this opportunity to inform you of your "Credit Limit". The Credit Limit is based upon the usage, timely payment, tenure with Reliance, initial credit profile and deposits made. You can enjoy uninterrupted services upto the limit for your usage (billed + unbilled) at any point in time. We are pleased to inform you that you have been assigned a Credit Limit based on the above criteria. This amount is currently : Rs. X,XXX.00 For your convenience and better understanding, here are some further clarifications. Why is there a Credit Limit assigned to my account? This limit is assigned to provide you maximum flexibility for your usage. It also helps us to protect you against any misuse in case of loss or theft of your phone. What if my usage crosses the Credit Limit? You would be intimated through an SMS to make an interim payment in case your usage exceeds 80% of the currently assigned Credit Limit. Your services may be interrupted if the usage continues and the interim payment is not made. What will happen if payment is not made by the Due Date? Your services may be interrupted if payment is not made by due date (even if Bill Amount is within the currently assigned Credit Limit). Also, the credit limit will be reduced after each instance of late payment. A late payment charge will also be levied in such cases in the next bill. Does my Credit Limit change? Yes, your credit limit is revised from time to time based on your usage and timely and regular payments of your monthly bils. You can enchance your credit limit by paying an additional deposit at any of our WebWorlds or WebWorld Expresses. Instances of cheque bounce and credit card chargebacks reduce your credit limit. If you have any further questions, please feel free to visit our website www.relianceinfo.com or contact our customer care at *333. Assuring you of our best services, always. Regards, Reliance Infocomm Ltd.

Will Anil connect? Prerna Raturi & Amit Ranjan Rai / New Delhi July 12, 2005 A look at some issues the new head of Reliance Infocomm is likely to confront A prominently displayed plaque at the entrance of Reliance Industries’ office in New Delhi spells out Mukesh Ambani’s vision for Reliance Infocomm. But the telecom company that has always been identified as Mukesh’s baby was made over to younger brother Anil in the settlement worked out last month. Except that Anil Ambani hasn’t been involved with the running of Infocomm; it’s a company that’s been in trouble with the law; and its biggest, so far unquestioning source of funds — RIL — is now no longer available. Add to this an inheritance that includes customer dissatisfaction, a downmarket image and a technology that’s not being accepted as well it could be, and Ambani’s clearly got his work cut out for him. The Strategist discussed the issues on hand with Infocomm executives, competitors and telecom industry experts. Here’s their analysis of trouble areas and possible ways out. Tech trouble First, the good news. Infocomm is the second largest player in the mobile telephony arena: its 20 per cent share of the 52-million subscriber market is just one percentage point behind Bharti. It has a nation-wide presence, a robust infrastructure — an 80,000-km optical fibre cable network that supports voice, data and video — and a pan-India wireless network based on the latest CDMA technology. “We aim to be the leaders in the digital value chain. This means we will be in the mobile telephony, long-distance, broadband, home, media and entertainment space,” says the spokesman for Reliance Infocomm. But, at Rs 5,387 crore, its revenue is 33 per cent lower than that of Bharti, which also has a pan-Indian presence, operates on the GSM platform and has just 0.5 million more subscribers than Infocomm (11 million). What explains this gap in revenues? One reason is that Infocomm hasn’t got enough high-end subscribers. According to a recent study by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Infocomm’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is Rs 258 a month, compared to GSM players like Bharti, Hutch, and Idea, whose average monthly ARPU is Rs 400 (for some service providers such as Hutch, the blended ARPU can be as high as Rs 750 a month). Infocomm can blame its late entry into mobile services for that. Arpita Pal Agrawal, a telecom industry consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, explains a little more. “With any technology, first the most paying get on to the networks. That gave Bharti an early-mover advantage.” Gradually, as tariffs came down and handset prices dropped, Bharti tapped the mass market too, with its strong brand positioning and network strength. Which means that by the time Reliance announced its CDMA services in December 2002, most high-end customers had already signed on with other service providers. Meanwhile, points out telecom industry expert Mahesh Uppal, “Reliance was left with the dregs.” And it’s not going to be easy to get the big spenders to switch to Infocomm (remember, price is no longer an issue: mobile telephone rates are now more or less the same across service providers). The issue here is technical: the CDMA technology adopted by Infocomm does not support international roaming services on different networks. It didn’t help that, until some time ago, Infocomm subscribers could not change their handsets at will — that was also a deterrent to several potential customers. Perhaps the way out lies in concentrating on data service-based revenue, given that voice is becoming increasingly commoditised. One option is the data services plan that Mukesh Ambani chalked out in 2002, when he had indicated that voice telephony would account for not more than 25 to 30 per cent of Infocomm’s total revenue. The numbers point to the sense in that plan. Trai has forecast that by 2010, the number of Internet subscriptions in India will increase to 40 million, from 6 million currently. Of this, broadband will account for 9 million subscriptions in 2007 and 20 million by 2010. Infocomm has an edge here: when it comes to data, CDMA technology has proven superior to GSM — its spectrum is more reliable, making functions like broadband, video conferencing, gaming, DTH, V-Sat and so on, more efficient. Value-added services (VAS) could be another money spinner. Over 10 per cent of the mobile service revenue of GSM service providers comes from add-ons such as missed call status, caller ring-back tones (CRBTs), ringtones, wallpapers, text and multimedia messages, and so on. Recent research by brokerage and research firm SSKI places the VAS market at nearly Rs 350 crore — expected to grow to Rs 3,800 crore by 2010 — of which more than a quarter is accounted for by CRBTs. Airtel’s “Hello Tunes” illustrates that perfectly. The CRBT service was introduced a year ago — it now offers 10,000 songs in 18 languages and gets 2 million downloads every month. Uppal, too, advocates VAS as a viable option for Infocomm, but adds a rider: “These features are fast picked up by competitors.” The key is constant innovation — after Hello Tunes, Airtel moved on quickly to launch a stock ticker, sudoku puzzles and games based on the latest movies. But innovation may be a test for Ambani. “ Reliance has been a hard-core product company with limited experience of running services,” agrees Uppal. Billing bungles I am a Reliance customer in Delhi and the NCR. I have not received any bills since October 7. Is this a problem only with me or with other Reliance subscribers, too? (January 16, 2004). My unbilled usage starts from Rs 1,600.60 every month. My monthly average bill is around Rs 900. Right after my bill is generated, I get a call that my usage is high (my credit limit is Rs 1,500). The executives just don’t accept my problem since they say they use an “error-free world-class billing system” (March 18, 2005). — Complaints posted on RIMweb.com Building up its strengths region by region may also help Infocomm overcome its troubles with faulty billing and customer complaints. A company insider attributes billing glitches — a perennial grouse against Infocomm — to faulty software and weak processes for database management. Anil Nayar, director, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, points to the possibility of human error, too. “There can be lapses while processing the bill.” Could outsourcing the billing function be the solution? That would free up Infocomm resources that could be deployed on customer care, feedback and brand building. Bharti already outsources roughly 70 per cent of its call centre operations and, in March 2004, it contracted out its entire IT functions (including billing) to IBM. Nayar says that has worked well. “When you are growing very fast, there is a tendency to miss out on certain areas, which can pull you down,” he says. Meanwhile, Infocomm has been busy reaching out to customers. Its retail and customer service outlets — the Reliance Webworld — has given way to a sleeker, smaller avatar, the Reliance Webworld Expressway. Compared to the 240 Webworlds that were set up over two years, since April this year more than 1,000 WWEs have already come up. And according to Trai’s recent report on the telecom industry, for the first quarter of FY05, Infocomm has a 100 per cent response rate in areas such as fault incidence and repair; its average call rate success (within the licensee territory) is 99.05 per cent. Brand Building This is perhaps the biggest task ahead of Infocomm. For starters, Anil and Infocomm now no longer have the backing of RIL. Infocomm has also had a couple of brushes with the law, which haven’t helped its reputation any. But perhaps the biggest hurdle for the company will be to change the image perception of its mobile service. Points out an industry observer, “Reliance decided to offer cellular phones services at the cost of a post card. Consequently, the poor man’s phone perception has stuck to CDMA.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICKBITE Market trends indicate that the next battleground for telecom companies will be the non-voice data services segment. According to research firm IDC India, the non-voice market (SMS and ringtones among others) was Rs 695 crore in 2004 — based on the current mobile turnover of around Rs 22,000 crore, that’s around 3.15 per cent of the total business. By the end of the decade, estimates IDC, the value-added services market — ringtones, wallpapers, caller ring-back tones and multimedia messaging, among others (that is, the non-SMS part of the non-voice market) — will grow from a mere Rs 191 crore in 2004 to around Rs 2,300 crore. That’s a compound annual growth rate of over 65 per cent. Consider Korea, one of the world’s fastest data services markets. IDC has forecast the mobile market there to soar by 30 per cent in 2005 to £1.34 billion. In contrast, the voice market is only expected to grow by 3.4 per cent. The key drivers for the increase in mobile data revenues will be the growing number of video services and an increasing number of mobile banking users. In particular, video telephony calls are predicted to make a big impact on the Korean mobile data market as the new W-CDMA networks take off. ------------------------------------------- Business Standard Rediff Makes a reference to our own rimweb.com as well :'(

Might be Reliance trying to fight mobile cloning...

This is what the FAQ says: Also note that during the first part of our beta testing period, users outside of North America and Europe may not see much improvement in their web page loading speed.

*333 CallCenter for RIM *345 Rel World Card calls prefix *347 Rel World Card a/c balance check *366 CallCenter for RIP *375 Calling card prefix *390 Rewards a/c calls prefix *412 RConnect enable - now discontinued *488 Phone deavctivation Junta, please add to the list...

Rakesh is right. They are deducting the calls immediately from the 400 mins. As a result, I had to pay a higher amount for my STD calls.

Saw in my latest bill that they are deducting calls from the free 400 calls for DAPO. Wrote to Chairman's office and got this: Dear Sir, This is in reference to your mail addressed to the Chairman. In response to your mail regarding R Connect charged within plan minutes, kindly note that for DAPO Customers under Zero Rental Plan, the following charges will be applicable Within Plan minutes 1. During off peak hours within the plan minutes the charges would be Rs.0.40 paise per minute. This would get deducted from the total un-utilized plan minutes 2. During Peak hours within plan minutes Rs.0.50 paise per minute will be charged. Out of this, Rs.0.10 paise per minute of usage would get added up in the bill and Rs.0.40 paise per minute would get deducted from the total un-utilized minutes. Beyond Plan minutes 1. During peak hours 0.50 paise per minute will be charged. 2. During off peak hours 0.25 paise per minute will be charged. Currently the option of using R-connect, outside plan minutes is not available. With the revised usage charges for the “Zero Rental” plan, all existing customers under this plan will also enjoy the reduced usage charges. Further, we are unable to process your request for regeneration of bill. We regret the inconvenience caused to you. We are constantly trying to improve our services. Looking forward to your co-operation. For further details, you can visit our web-site www.relianceinfo.com. You could write to us at customercare@relianceinfo.com or fax us at 3033 6565. You can also call Reliance Customer Care at 3033 3333 or by dialling *333 from your Reliance IndiaMobile. Yours sincerely, Abilash Palissary Customer Service Chairman's Office