Himanshu Singh

Hi frnds, I am unable to send IMs while using Aircel gprs on computer.I mean the other person does not get any message.But when i try with Reliance broadband it works fine. Whats the problem? and what can be done?

I am a subscriber or Reliance Mobile broadband and must admit that its service is great in my area. I have been using it since October 13 and its been hassle free. Yesterday out of curiosity I tried to connect to net through my Samsung mobile using data cable. I installed the samsung pc studio and the drivers. Yet something was going wrong. I made a call to the CC and they listened to my problem. They asked for my alternate number and I was called back and guided through the entire process. Finally I was able to connect to the net. I was impressed by the cooperation of the CC. I was more impressed by the quality of surfing/downloading experience. It was no more a suffering. Why I call it a suffering is this- I had been using MTNL and Idea GPRS in Delhi to connect to net on pc and they were horrible. While MTNL had no unlimited plans for prepaid users Idea charged Rs.20/day for the same and that too activation is very delayed in case of Idea.I never used Airtel/vodafone. With Aircel the Rs.14/3days and Rs.98/30 days activation is instant. And Aircel counts validity in hours. So 3 days validity means a validity of 72 hours(for instance if you activate the gprs at 7pm on 5th jan, it will expire at 7 pm 8th jan). Unlike Idea which will count 1 day even if it activates the plan at 10 pm for instance. I have noted a marked improvement in Aircel GPRS service since october when I last used it. I would recommend it to someone who wants to use mobile to connect to net. Its really cheap and the best among GSM operators in Delhi-NCR.

Sorry for off topoc, but Wats a universal charger?

There is no doubt that sms packs from Reliance are the cheapest. But I have stopped using RCDMA/RGSM for smsing. Reason is obvious.Delayed delivery of texts, sms sending failed and other issues. I have been facing this issue ever since these cheap packs were launched. So I am currently using 1.MTS cdma for 100 local/national sms/day for Re.1/day.(I dont even use 100, so how would I use 500 or more). 2.Aircel gsm for 1000 local/national sms@Rs.49/30days. And now I have mental peace. So much so that I do not have my sms delivery report on.

any doctor pls....... They should divest their 74%stake to any foreign telecom company and let them run the show. Tie up with any international telecom brand of repute.

I think certain facts needed to be added here. Firstly, MTS has roaming agreements with Tata and Reliance. So wherever Reliance/Tata is available roaming with MTS is possible.Also MTS has agreements to use the passive infrastructure of other companies.So building network is not that tough.(I am unable to recall the details at the moment.)Look at RGSM. What do they lack(nothing except brains of course)?Yet RGSM is a failure, to put it mildly. Secondly, why do we forget the initial days of RCDMA when there was poor coverage in most rural areas and even towns in some states and there was no use roaming with RCDMA? Thirdly, MTS is doing well as a new entrant. It just crossed 3 million subscribers. (I am all for more competition in CDMA space.Ideally there should be atleast 4 CDMA and 4 GSM operators in each circle in the long run.)

Any details of sms packs available from Tata Indicom in Delhi?

Yes we all agree RCDMA is good everywhere(except for the time when the sms dont get delivered).RCDMA is a legacy of the elder brother. The child of the younger brother is RGSM which, to the best of my experience, is suffering from some unknown fatal disease.

@Dhiraj,Got time to test Aircel GPRS in Delhi? Do post your experience whenever you do that. I really want to know how it works.

I think Ambani just wanted to corner GSM spectrum.He does not seem interested in providing services. No use mailing them.I am sure they know the state of their pathetic services.

Lets hear about the price. Design looks good.Pink Color does not matter. Its eye catching.

The record subscriber additions every month are not translating into proportionate revenue rise for the country’s telecom companies. The savage price war over the last couple of months has resulted in ten of the 14 telecom operators in India witnessing a fall in their revenues in the last quarter, an analysis by sector regulator Trai has revealed. As per the regulator’s findings, only three operators — Aircel, Reliance Communications, Tatas — and new entrant Telenor have witnessed a rise in revenues for the quarter-ended September 2009, compared with their previous quarter in the same year (June 2009). According to Trai, despite a record addition of 45 million new cellular customers during this quarter, the combined revenues of all operators fell 0.7% to Rs 38,854 crore in September 2009, compared with Rs 39,108 crore in June. The sector’s revenues for the period ended September ’09 were lower than the industry’s sales figures in December 2008 when it recorded Rs 39,408 crore despite having 125 million fewer customers then. Aircel has witnessed the maximum jump as it recorded a 6.47% increase in its revenues (refer table). Its chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh told ET that this was on the back of the telco increasing its incremental market share in the new additions space to about 11% during the September 2009 quarter when compared to 7% in the previous quarter. “Till March 2009, we were a regional brand. We then went national and it takes about 60-90 days for the impact to register — our brand has gained a strong traction with customers and we have been able to attract high quality users leading to the increase in revenues,” Mr Singh said, while adding: “Our brand positioning around value added services and data and growth in the newly added circles are beginning to kick in resulting in the increase in revenues”. The CEO of a leading GSM telecom company had recently told ET that the full impact of falling tariffs would reflect on all operators books only over the next two quarters. “The sector’s revenues and margins will dip further in the next three to six months despite another 80 million new customers being added during this time,” this executive had added. The scenario is expected to remain the same in Q3 as well. A recent Citigroup report on the Indian telecom space said: “We forecast wireless revenues for GSM incumbents to grow 1 per cent to 3% quarter-on-quarter aided by strong traffic growth. The encouraging traffic trend is also likely to limit EBITDA margin pressures, which will mean the overall EBITDA will remain flat. The decline for Idea could be more compared with Bharti given aggressive tariff cuts, especially in new circles. Reliance Communications' revenue per minute decline is also likely to get impacted due to tariff cuts announced at the beginning of the quarter”. The decline in the industry’s revenues due to the ongoing tariff war will also impact the government’s share of earnings from this sector. For instance, as first reported by ET, in the September 2009 quarter, the year-on-year growth in revenues from licence fee and spectrum charges slowed down to 6.4% from 15.8% a year ago, as per data released by Trai. The growth began to decelerate since the March 2009 quarter when it fell to single digits for the first time in at least eight quarters. The government collected Rs 3,290.5 crore from 18 telecom and long-distance service providers in the country during the quarter ended September 2009. The declining trend in the government’s revenue growth may affect the department of telecom’s (DoT) suggestion to impose uniform 8.5% licence fee across all the telecom circles, said industry experts. Currently, telecom operators pay 6-10% of adjusted gross revenues as licence fees, the highest for the circle A and lowest for the circle C. Vodafone Group Plc CEO Vittorio Colao had recently told ET that the company was not concerned about the price war, while also adding that the Indian telecom market needed consolidation to stay in profits. “Vodafone is a long-term player. We can handle price wars and street fights and come out on top in the long-term, but clearly there are too many operators in the market here. In every environment I have seen, not more than 5-6 operators and 3-4 networks have survived – this provides with enough competition from pricing perspective and also space for innovation. Unfortunately, India has a set of rules that does not allow consolidation. This year, in India, Vodafone had a £350 million operating profit in the first six months and we investing £1 billion. No player in India other than Bharti Airtel has positive cash flow and we should make sure that there is enough cash in the system for future investments,” Mr Coloa had said.

Do not take RGSM connection if: 1. you want to use it in Delhi-NCR 2. you want to check balance(*367#) in just one try. (I have to try 2-3 times before balance comes as a flash) 3. you want to be able to talk to people during 5-10pm or even later.My calls dont get connected. All the damn routes remain busy for RGSM. 4. you want to talk to customer care at times for issues. All calls to *333 would say all routes are busy, please try after sometime. 5. you want mental peace.(the most important thing)

Friends, one of my friend's mother lost her samsung guru gsm mobile today. My friend now wants a sub-1500 set with these features: 1. Easy to use, key pads and ear piece volume should be decent. 2. FM radio 3. Mp3 ringtones Suggestions are most welcome so that I can give him enough options to choose from when he goes out to buy that tomorrow. Thanks in advance.

Guys thanks for suggestions. But it came late. I got the samsung E1160 @1800. Personally I am a big fan of Samsung. You all would not believe but I have never purchased any nokia set. I have either bought LG or Samsung.

I asked him to take Samsung E1160. Got for 1800 in Delhi.

TRAI may drop 11-digit plan, unlock 2-7 series As against moving to 11-digit mobile numbers, telecom regulator Trai is planning an alternate solution where it will retain the current 10-digit format but open up digits 2 to 9 for mobile numbers. Currently, over 90% of the mobile numbers begin with 9 and the rest with 8, a top official with the Trai told ET. While existing mobile numbers will remain intact, this model will lead to all landline numbers having 10-digits. Trai officials are of the view that it is easier for the 40 million landline users to shift to a 10-digit format as against 510 million and growing mobile users moving to a 11-digit cellphone numbers. ET has also learned that Trai will launch a consultation process on this issue this week to seek the industry’s reaction before implementing its proposal. The move from the regulator comes even as the Department of Telecom (DoT) in November 2009 had prepared a draft notification in which it sought all mobile users to adopt a 11-digit numbering plan this year by prefixing ‘9’ to their existing cellphone numbers. But, DoT, confronted with stiff opposition from all leading operators who said that it would be “next to impossible” for India to move to 11-digit mobile numbers in 2010 since this would involve making massive technical changes to both softwares and and mobile network configurations, then put the plan on hold. The issue assumes significance because the country is set to run out of mobile numbers within two years. While the ‘9’ series has the potential for a billion cellular numbers, this series is set to exhausted within the next two years. Currently, India has over 500 million cellular customers, but the country has already used up over 700 million mobile numbers due to churn where customers switch operators and several other factors such a migration, where existing numbers cannot be used at new destinations due to technological constraints. Unlike most Western nations, surrendered or unused mobile numbers are not recycled back into the system in India. Besides, the country is also adding 150 million new cellular customers every year. The existing numbering plan was fixed in 2003 and DoT had expected it to be in place till 2030. This is because, based on the 2003-projections, India was expected to have 500 million mobile customers only by 2030. But the country has reached that mark in 2009 itself. India has been the world’s fastest growing cellular market for the past three years, surpassing even China. Trai proposal will open up all levels except numbers beginning with the digit ‘1’, which the regulator wants to reserve for emergency services, toll free numbers and for government-related issues. If the levels, say ‘7’ and ‘8’ are opened up and allotted to mobile operators, this will increase the mobile numbering resources by an additional 2 billion. The Cellular Operators Association of India, the body representing GSM telcos, has pointed out the opening of just two additional levels, even with 60% efficiency would cater to 1,200 million more subscribers, which is sufficient to meet the requirements of all operators for the next seven to 10 years. “If we open up all levels, say from digits 2-9, this will provide us with a further 8 billion mobile numbers. The Indian population will never exceed 1.5 billion and therefore this pool of numbers will never ever be exhausted,” the Trai official said. This official also added that moving landline numbers to the 10-digit format would ensure that operators can issue about a billion fixedline connections, a permanent solution as this would never happen. Landline numbers, which currently are less than 40 million, have been steadily falling over the last five years due to the mobile phone revolution. “In countries, like the US, there is no difference in the numbering format between mobile and landline numbers – our proposal will enable India to implement such a similar system, the Trai official added.

I guess MTS offer of 1p/2s for a monthly fee of Rs.30 turns out be cheaper than DoCoMo or Aircel in all circles.

I am still not sure if the promo TT can be used for calls/texts while roaming.Someone needs to enlighten me on this with personal experience.

Well Idea is in desperate times. It needs cash for its ongoing expansion. And when they sell free sim cards without adding much to revenues or Minutes of usage, they are going to be strict. Else all their numbers would be blocked by non-usage sim cards. Thats why they want to deactivate them and re issue them, free of cost of course with a mandatory first recharge.

Thats good if its available all over. RGSM might have different policies for promo TT.

Go with DoCoMo. I went with Aircel in Delhi where RGSM is a still-born baby rather a dying pony(not even a horse).

For RCDMA (as far as Delhi-NCR) is concerned find the following details about FTT recharges. 1.FTT means recharge amount= balance amount, 100/100,200/200,300/300 and so on. 2. The promo balance is valid for 7 days. 3. The promo balance is valid for all local calls, all std calls, all local texts, all national texts. 4.The promo balance is not valid for VAS, International calls/texts and roaming calls.

Plans for niche customers. Not recommended for those who are not heavy roamers.

In Delhi its much better thankfully. I would urge any other member from Delhi who is using it. May be that would clear the issue whether I am plain lucky or its really worth it here in Delhi.