vvinayakpai

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Main balance is valid until your account is active. Promo balance is valid for generally 7 days from the date of recharge. When u have a main balance and a promo balance, first deduction would be from the promo balance. Promo balance, just like Main balance can be used for making local calls, Std calls, send sms, also while roaming. The only difference between promo balance and main balance is that the promo balance has a max validity of 7 to 15 days depending upon the kind of promo balance.

^^^^^^^^^^^ Tata Docomo has toned down their offer a little now. Services have been launched in Haryana and now STD is at 1ps/sec for the first fifteen minutes in a day. After that it is 2ps/sec. Earlier it was 450 minutes in a month were charged at 1ps/sec and remaining at 2ps/sec, now it has been toned down to a daily basis. Tata showing its true colours??????????????? Not aware if the change has been made to existing circles as well. Source: http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-haryana/10278/ Source2: http://www.tatadocomo.com/prepaid-plan-details.aspx (tata docomo website)

I purchased a new GSM connection and was surprised when i checked the validity. The validity is mentioned as 18th November, 2022. I have another Reliance GSM which has lifetime validity till 20th July, 2021 Also 2 CDMA connections with validity till 20th July, 2021. I was totally susrprised when i saw this disparity

^^^^^^^^ Absolutely wrong!!!!!!!!!!! When you recharge with Rs. 39 voucher you get 100mins of STD calling free. When you make a STD call it is deducted from these minutes. There is no additional 39ps/min. For Rs39=100mins Therefore 39/100= 39ps/min.

What is this Rs. 80 National Calling Card??????????????

Reliance extended my validity voluntarily and I decided to use their services as a secondary connection after seeing the improved connectivity and clarity on GSM in my area. Now I am facing a problem. I am unable to send messages to Docomo numbers starting with '8'. At the same time I am able to make a call to the number but not send sms. I have given a complaint to Reliance CC. Maybe something to do with the fact that the 8 series was recently launched!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, as mentioned in the article, this offer is not comparable to the Airtel offer. The Airtel offer is available nationwide whereas the Reliance offer is restricted to the Delhi and NCR regions.

^^^^^^^^^^ Recharge for Rs. 39 and get 100 minutes of STD calling free across India. After the 100minutes are exhausted, charges would be based on your current tariff plan

Telecom tariff war intensifies Mini Joseph Tejaswi | TNN Bangalore: A price war is hotting up again among cellular service providers. Tata DoCoMo surprised the market with its a-paisa-a-second scheme a couple of months ago. Airtel recently followed by offering a 50 paise a minute offer for local and STD calls for calls made to other Airtel numbers . Now, Vodafone Essar is launching a tariff plan for its pre-paid customers in Karnataka that will offer a one minute local /STD call to any phone at 50 paise. Even a text message will be charged at 50 paise. For new prepaid Vodafone subscribers, the new plan comes in two different recharge units at Rs 77 and Rs 123 with a talk time of Rs 10 and Rs 15 and validity of 3 and 6 months respectively. Existing Vodafone prepaid customers can avail of this plan for a recharge of Rs 75 or Rs 119 for 3 and 6 months respectively. K Sankara Narayanan, CEO (Karnataka ) Vodafone Essar, said customers today are not able to distinguish between local and STD numbers as the number series for any operator is not in any uniform or consistent pattern. The need hence arises for tariffs that are simple, direct and uniform. Karnataka is one of the very first telecom markets in India where mobile customers enjoy the benefit of both STD and local calling and SMS at just 50 paise per minute, said Venkatesh V, CEO, Airtel Mobile Services, Karnataka. Many of these newer plans are targetted at small towns and rural areas. Big urban locations are seen to be saturated. SOURCE: TIMES OF INDIA dated 24th September, 2009, Page number 17(BANGALORE EDITION). "Not able to copy the link."

The action would now shift to "A' circles with the date for MNP launch drawing closer. Existing well establishd players would launch schemes in different circles based on the utilisation of existing spectrum in an efficiet manner. Now that additional 2G spectrum will not be available to existing players until the 3G auctions are completed, existing players would not want to clog their networks. Action would shift to Chennai as well and all "A" circles in the near term. It is only a metter of time. Chennaites are lucky than Karnataka subscribers because in Chennai Lifetime Jaadu is only Rs. 199 whereas in Karnataka it is still priced at Rs. 550.

Reliance GSM offers STV 18 Category » Bhopal Posted On Monday, September 21, 2009 By Our Staff Reporter Bhopal, Sept 21: Reliance Communications, the number one network of the country has introduced a special tariff voucher for its GSM for only Rs 18 with lifetime validity and tariff validity of one year. According to Servesh Mathur, CEO, MP Circle, Reliance Communications, once a customer recharges with STV 18, the call charges for calls made from RTL to RTL (Reliance GSM to Reliance GSM) will be as low as 0.30 p per minute between 6am to 10pm and even lower, at just 0.10p (ten paise) per minute between 10pm to 6 am. Further the calls made to any other network will be charged at Rs 0.60 p (Sixty paise) per minute and for STD it will be Rs 1.20. The STV comes with lifetime validity with a tariff validity of one year. Under the STV 18 there will be a daily decrement of 0.50 p (50 paise) from the core balance of the customer. However, there will be no deduction is the customers' balance is nil, he added. This product essentially offers a costing of 1paise per 2 sec. However, the effective rate is 30p / minute call. If a customer speaks for 2 minutes, he ends up paying 60p. SOURCE: http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=15127

Yes thats tru Ravi. I agree with you now and thank you for informing me about the Tata network because I have never used their service until now. Airtel has stepped up their ad campaign now. What happened to Hrithik????? Is he "out of reach" on the Reliance Mobile GSM network??????? Latest heard that Reliance was trying to contact Hrithik for shooting a new ad campaign. But Hrithik was unreachable because he has started using the Reliance GSM connection now!!!!!!!!!

This is a precursor to the Infratel IPO which is expected soon. Remember, just after the Reliance Power IPO had bombed at the bourses, he had transfered a personal stake in RPOWER to the shareholders of Reliance energy so that their interests are not violated. This, I think is a gimmick too, to entice the shareholders that nothing of that sort would happen this time.

I really hope Reliance wakes up as soon as possible!!!!!! My only fear is that in the process of trying to get up, Reliance might promote GSM much more than needed and indirectly kill their CDMA business. Many of their current schemes have made me feel that CDMA is secondary to GSM. Especially the STD pack of Rs. 75, which offers 150mins to GSM customers and 100 mins to CDMA customers. Hats off to Tata!!!!!! I never expected them to step up the marketing for Indicom as well, and that too in such an aggressive manner. Especially the local 30ps calling and the pap per call schemes, my god, mind boggling.

Pathetic scheme!!!!!!! Local offnet calling at 60ps/min and STD at Rs. 1.2 per minute, and all this comes with an initial recharge of Rs. 18+50ps every day. Really bad scheme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RCOM has added only 1.66 million subscribers in all the 22 circles they operate in. They are just ahead of Idea Cellular which added 1.54 million subscribers. The fact that Tata has managed more than double the figure managed by RCOM, by operating in less than half the circles is really commendable. In order to attract further additions in the coming months, RCOM would be forced to adopt a more aggressive marketing technique bundled with offers. Bharti Airtel is the most stable of the lot adding 2.8 million subscribers.

India's Bharti to charge 1 cent/min for calls Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:32am NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Leading Indian mobile firm Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) on Friday said it would charge 50 paisa per minute (1 U.S. cent) for local and national calls on its network, heating up competition in a market that already has some of the world's cheapest tariffs. Local call rates in India now average U.S. 2 cents per minute, and national long-distance calls are priced at about U.S. 3 cents, with variations depending on bill plans and operators. Bharti Airtel, whose 110 million users account for nearly a quarter of India's mobile subscribers, said more than 95 percent of its users made local and national calls to another number on its network. Operators can offer cheaper tariffs within their own network as they do not have to pay interconnection charges which apply if a call is made to another operator's network. India is world's fastest-growing mobile market with operators adding more than 10 million mobile users a month, and competition has led to drop in tariffs as new entrants try to win subscribers. Second-ranked Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO) expanded its GSM services this year and offered free call minutes for some months to lure subscribers, leading to record sign-ups. Sixth-ranked Tata Teleservices recently launched a GSM-based mobile service with a per-second billing plan that helped it post its highest-ever monthly additions in July. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by John Mair) SOURCE1: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSDEL44812720090918 Source2:http://telecomtalk.info/bharti-airtel-offers-airtel-advantage-local-std-50pmin/9682/

Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Bhubaneswar : Aircel the fast growing Pan India telecom operator in the country, with presence in 18 circles and over 24 million subscribers, launched a very unique and consumer friendly product today, “NOW PAY PER SECOND”, in Orissa. In its endeavor to offer the best products and services to its Orissa subscribers Aircel introduces the base tariff to any subscriber coming on Aircel network at, 1paise@1 second both on Local and STD calls making it a ‘Hungama-Offer’ i.e. the lowest rate possible at the lowest pulse possible. With per second pulse a subscriber will only pay for what he uses. It’s a complete value for money offer where in a subscriber making a call for 12 seconds will now only pay 12 paise and not Re 1. The New Aircel Lifetime connection which is available for Rs.49 will have a pulse for per second. Existing subscribers can also opt for ‘Pay per Second’, by sending an SMS, calling the call center or recharging at POS at no additional cost. Mr. Vipul Saurabh, National Head Operations and Customer Support, Aircel said, “Our endeavor is to introduce products and services uniquely tailored to meet the special needs of our Orissa consumers. This is one such step to reward high usage in a simple manner and is value for money”. International Calls will also be charged at Per second Pulse offering subscribers a huge bonanza where in they can make calls to Australia, Canada, South East Asia, UK and US at only 11paise@1 second. Mr. Rahul Saighal, CMO, Aircel added,“This offer to our consumers is in line with Aircel’s focus on Value and Simplicity” Source: http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=14355

Excellent!!!!!!!!

Tata Teleservices price pitch does the trick, operator notches up over 3.4 mn new additions in August TT Correspondent | New Delhi | 21 Sep 2009 Indian consumers inclination towards pricing mix comes out in the open again as Tata DoCoMo is seen to have registered the maximum number of new mobile subscriber additions in the month of August 2009. The service provider has managed to clock more than 3.4 million new mobile subscribers as of August 31, 2009. Its total wireless subscriber base now stands at 42.79 million. Tata Teleservices additions clearly outnumber market leader Bharti Airtels figure of 2.8 million new additions for August. In fact the figure of more than 3 million is itself very high since normally the highest subscriber addition figures hover around the 2.5-2.8 million mark. Tata Teleservices had managed to record 2.2 million new additions in July month. This is fantastic news for us and a validation of all the efforts that have been put into making our network and services the best in the industry, Mr Anil Sardana, Managing Director of Tata Teleservices Limited, said. We thank each one of our new and existing subscribers for showering so much love, affection and trust in us. This has far exceeded our expectations and enthuses us to provide the best telecom experience to our customersin keeping with our larger objective of achieving customer affection and delight, he added. The company is playing aggressively on the price front. It has launched its GSM services under the Tata DoCoMo brand on a per second pricing pulse model as opposed to competing offers which are generally priced on per minute basis. On the CDMA front, the company has launched a flat rate of Re.1 irrespective of the duration of the call. Vodafone witnessed 2.19 million additions while Reliance Communications is seen lagging with only 1.6 million additions. The figures available with TelecomTiger will be released soon by the relevant trade associations. Please click on the Source link to view the table. I am unable to upload the table on this post. SOURCE: http://www.telecomtiger.com/Wireless_fullstory.aspx?storyid=7212&flag=1&passfrom=topstory&section=S216

Saw an advertisement that per second billing was introduced in Kerala as well. Any information???????

^^^^^^^^^ In Mumbai and Maharashtra the scheme is available for Rs. 50, agreed. But the validity is 30days. Whereas in Karnataka Rs. 77 voucher comes with talktime of Rs. 10 and tariff validity of 90 days. Also with Rs. 77 in Karnataka, offnet STD calls to mobiles and landlines are charged at only 60ps/min. RCOM's Rs. 39 voucher is valid for 30days. And also, the first minute of every STD call is charged at base tariff plan i.e Rs. 1.5. The scheme by Airtel is w/o any first min calculations.

A very good scheme from Airtel. Frankly speaking I didnt expect them to succumb to pressure so soon. I had expected that action could be expected only after MNP is implememnted, or at least when the exact date of implementationn of MNP is notified. Waiting for RCOM CDMA to counter this offer!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got some more information regarding the offer from Bharti Airtel. The above plan gets activated on a recharge of Rs. 77 which offers a talktime of Rs. 10 and tariff validity of 3 months. Local and STD calls to Airtel will b charged at 50ps/min. All local and STD calls to other networks would be charged at 60ps/min. (not sure whether landlines are included) there was something regarding sms also bundled also, but i was not able to pick up the whole information from the hoarding. Click on the link below to get region wise details of the plan. http://telecomtalk.info/airtel-advantage-pack-details/9818/

Tata Docomo is still awaiting for spectrum to be alloted to them for Delhi circle. It may not happen in the immediate near term. Hopefull by December or January, 2009 Tata Docomo will start services.