Dual-Sim Cardholder Makers Make Hay As Govt Dithers On Mnp

[Himanshu Singh 19]

The lobby against number portability may be playing a losing game. A widget from China priced as low as Rs 50 is making the government's dithering on the issue for four years meaningless now.

A chewing-gum sized device known as "dual SIM card holder" can be placed under the battery of your mobile phone and that has a provision to hold another SIM card, which can be activated whenever there is a need to call. This helps retain your number in use for many years and subscribe to a new operator who is giving away outgoing calls almost for free.

It eliminates the strain of carrying two mobile phones, one to receive calls and the other to call, or paying a higher price for a mobile phone that has the facility to hold two SIM cards. The device can be used in most of the low-to-middle-end models of any handset maker.

"The lack of institutional mechanisms to partake low price tariffs is motivating consumers to employ ingenious approaches to avail lower tariffs. Launch of mobile number portability (MNP) in the near future will hopefully address this unsatiated consumer demand," Ascentius Consulting principal analyst Alok Shende told ET.

Where do you get this? Your local phone recharge outlet, for anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 200, depending on the handset model. One such product, photographed, is called the Yutong Doublecard, which comes with "six months of guaranty" .

"We source it from bulk dealers, who in turn procure it from Chinese manufacturers,"says a Kanpur-based online retailer, Gyan Chand who has sold thousands of units in the past few months. Payment can be made online , or by depositing money into any State Bank of India branch.

Indian mobile phone customers are a pampered lot with probably the lowest tariff in the world as Japan's NTT Docomo and Norway's Telenor seek to establish themselves in the world's fastest growing market which has over 517 million subscribers. Established companies in the industry may not be comfortable with number portability as customers could switch to new service providers where tariff is low and the network is not congested, analysts say.

"This is incrementally negative for the Indian telecom operators as they compete with each other on pricing to garner a higher share of MoU per subscriber using multiple SIMs," Macquarie Equities Research analyst Shubham Majumder said in a recent report.

Mobile phone service providers such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, the worst performers in the benchmark index last year, may see their profitability erode further as customers get savvy. Many analysts, including HSBC Securities and Capital Markets' Rajiv Sharma and Kotak Institutional Equities' Kawaljeet Saluja, have a sell rating on the sector.

According to industry estimates, 20% of the existing mobile user base is using more than one SIM. These kinds of behaviour makes operators' estimates difficult. Dual SIMs distort operating metrics as operators are not able to distinguish between accounts and users. "Moreover, given the rising competitive intensity, the phenomenon will only gain momentum going forward ," HSBC's Sharma said in a report.

The device offers up to 25% margin for retailers. "Our channel checks suggest that 40% of incremental industry SIM additions are due to multi SIM usage by subscribers," said Macquarie's Majumder.

But the industry is not worried over it as they say "service" decides consumer choice. "We continue to be the sole or primary SIM for users. Consumer has choices and will exercise. In the markets we are strong in, we are less impacted by the dual SIM phenomenon ," said Idea Cellular CMO Pradeep Shrivastava.

Edited January 14, 2010 by sachinrocks

[rahulmalik_81 1]

another jugaadd in india...

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

very old news,

This kind of devices are available from long time,

5 year before price was Rs.650.

[AGK 0]

The main flaw it has is that it does not really work with both cards simultaneously. Instead one SIM is operating at a given time while the other, which is referred to as ghost-SIM, is unusable. The user is able to alternate the two by turning the phone off and then back on. Not a great improvement compared to carrying the second SIM in your wallet and changing it when necessary. It only saves you the effort to remove the back cover and battery, reducing the replacement time by a couple of seconds or minutes, depending on you phone's design and the time it needs to turn off and then back on. The other major downer is the holder size. Quite bigger than a normal SIM, it just won't fit in some handsets. All in all, this solution is only applicable if you use the alternative SIM card rarely or you use it only for those casual outgoing calls.

Basically, adapters do not differ much from holders, as they function in pretty much the same way. The main difference, which is to say, the major benefit is that the dual SIM adapter is the same size as a regular SIM card and therefore can fit in any phone. On the other hand, fitting the two SIM cards in the module can be a challenge as you need to extract the actual SIM chips out of their plastic beds and then place them in the adapter. Cutting and puncturing your cards involves a certain level of risk. Fortunately, most dual SIM adapter dealers will do that for you upon purchase. Some more recent models allow switching between the SIM cards without turning the phone off. Instead, a switch SIM option appears on the phone menu. Yet, you still can't use the two SIM cards simultaneously. The other bad news for those considering SIM holders and adapters is that neither option will do much of a job on a locked phone, unless both cards used are of the same carrier.

source

http://www.gsmarena.com/dual_sim-review-154.php

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

^^^

100% correct !

And this ghost sim card holder dont work for CDMA !

If any one want to use two sim at one time,

there are dual sim mobiles available in market,

Also they work simultaneously, no need to restart the handset.

Also you can have gsm + CDMA in one handset,

So dual sim adapter is nothing to do with MNP !!!

Edited January 14, 2010 by hitesh123

[raccoon 53]

very old news,

This kind of devices are available from long time,

5 year before price was Rs.650.

This is not exactly old news in the sense that carrying 2 phones is a phenomenon that is catching up only recently. Many people I know are now carrying 2 phones with them. I'm sure this has happened because of the much lower or no rentals required to maintain more than one phone.

And hey... by golly, I'v become one myself!    But then I don't usually carry my secondary phone (currently RGSM) on myself, because its too much of a hassle, unless I'm carrying a bag... I mostly use it for outgoing calls & SMS when I'm home (which is when I make most outgoing calls anyway).

[savramesh 37]

Hope you people are talking about this one

Supercard Dual Sim

PDA Advanced MENU PDA Twin SIM

13th Generation MENU dual sim

New Power on off standard dual sim

15th Generation dual SIM card

Yutong Budget digital dual sim

Edited January 15, 2010 by savramesh

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

carrying 2 phones is a phenomenon that is catching up only recently

^^^

Its user who decide when to use it, but facility was available 5 year before, and its available today with more functions.

so dual sim, with active standby or without active standby is old new for me.