TATA is shutting down CDMA postpaid service

[sougatadc 358]

Today, after 7 long years of my use of Tata's postpaid CDMA, suddenly I received a short but a very rejecting message telling, "Hi, to enjoy continued services on your number, please migrate your number to Tata DoCoMo prepay or you could opt for Port out to another operator". I called CC and got confirmed about this (it will not be there post 17th June) and also received calls from Tata subsequently depicting the matter.

This is really an unexpected move and my primary number will become useless as Tata doesn't offer cheap on-net calls on prepaid any more.

If prepaid service remains there, what makes them to cease a smooth-running postpaid service?

Edited May 22, 2013 by sougatadc

[Venkatagiri 53]

Tata which was giving tough fight to Reliance on CDMA lost steam once MTS entered.

Seems MTS will benefit by this move

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

@ Sougata

Is it for total wb incl Kolkata, or just your District??

I think, if you are not in need to change plan anymore, you can use oxigen services to pay postpaid bills like me. Tata postpaid is unavailable in my district, but I am still using it.

If they are totally shutting down postpaid services in wb and kol, then it's better to port out to other operator...

Edited May 23, 2013 by KanagaDeepan

[sougatadc 358]

Thanks Kanaga for replying.As far as I know it is for Rest of WB circle. When I contacted, it was confirmed that the postpaid service will be discontinued from 17th June.

From the very first day of my use of post paid connection I always paid my bills online, so there was absolutely no problems for me after closure of Exclusive Stores by Tata. Change of address from West Bengal circle to Kolkata is still not possible (inter circle portability is still not there) and I cannot leave my special number (9233445566). I'm in a catch-22 position.

[Praveen sinha 51]

The same for Bihar and Jharkhand circle also they are closing their postpaid business here also.<br /><br />Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[inception 75]

Tata is shutting down postpaid service on CDMA and GSM in WB, Bihar & Rajasthan w.e.f. 17th June, 2013.

I guess this is part of Tata's cost crabbing strategy..

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

So Sougata ji, its better to port out to other operators say Mts or Rcdma (to retain your fancy number and cdma phone.

If you can't leave tata cdma (due to coverage or onnet ) then try their unlimited stvs...

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

[sougatadc 358]

Problems galore at my place:

1) RCDMA has very poor network in Rest of WB circle, if not the worst among all the circles, no EVDO nothing, hence cannot port to RCDMA.

2) MTS doesn't accept foreign MEID, so for retaining the handset (Fascinate) is not possible.

3) BSNL CDMA is almost non-existent,

4) Tata has withdrawn all its cheap/free on-net call STVs from my circle. Some of these are available in Kolkata circle, but procuring a connection from that circle is a problem (also that will force me to carry a third phone in my pocket, a difficult proposition). Also porting out to a pre-paid number of Kolkata circle is still not allowed (NTP is yet to be introduced). So retaining my fancy number with a Kolkata circle connection is not possible,

5) I use my other number (a fancy one once again, 9434353637) on MTS with smartphone connection. Surprisingly, MTS doesn't allow cheap on-net call STVs on smartphones, making it a bit costly. Carrying my primary number also on MTS (which seems inevitable now) looks a tad ridiculous. If I use non-smartphone connection on that number, I will be able to recharge it with on-net calling STVs. Still this will ask for procuring handsets for MTS for my close ones.

Kanaga, please suggest.

Edited May 27, 2013 by sougatadc

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

With bad network (atleast in your place), Rcdma is out. Without good onnet and cheap plans its useless to go for TataCDMA-Prepaid too... You already have MTS number too.

Pt 5 is also a good option, if the CDMA sets used by your relatives can accept MTS RUIMs...

Else Why don't you port out to BSNL GSM Prepaid to enjoy cheaper onnet (Local/STD) calls using STV around Rs152 (in TN afaik) which gives onnet calls benefits @ 10p/min (Local/STD) AND offnet calls (Local/STD) at 30p/min???

[sougatadc 358]

Thanks again.

I ported out from BSNL only because of its dismal network. And it's impossible to talk on BSNL in my office.

[kshah 452]

Is so frustrating that in so called market economy we do not get quality cellular network.

[sougatadc 358]

^^^

Absolutely true!

After so many years of cellular telephony in our country, so much area are yet to be covered.This is so frustrating. So many cities are devoid of data. And nobody can claim his network works flawlessly pan-India. Companies aren't providing the minimum of what they promise. Tariffs are getting hiked but the quality is deteriorating.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Sad, but true. ...

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

[sougatadc 358]

It's so frustrating and exasperating as well.

This move is going to disturb my whole setup vis-a-vis my F&F circle.

[luvrit 15]

RCOM CDMA in make over mode: is that getting ready for Reliance JIO?

From RCOM - analyst conference transcript of Mar'13 results

http://www.rcom.co.in/Rcom/aboutus/ir/pdf/RCOM-4QFY13-Earnings_Call_Transcript-Final.pdf

what are RCOM’S thoughts associated with the one‐time spectrum

payments, as you know it is in the newspapers that one of your CDMA peers returned

the CDMA spectrum apart from two circles, so just wanted to understand RCOM’S

thoughts.

Thank you.

Mr.Gurdeep Singh:

Thanks Sachin and wonderfulto have you on the call.

So, let me take up yoursecond question first and thatshould give you a flavor. For the

first time we are going to share some revenue break up with you. If you look at the

wireless growth, yesitis 2.5%, butif we dissectit and say whatisthe growth of ourGSM

and data business, which are the two growth engines identified at RCom; so, GSM

business plus any internetrevenue that we get puttogether now constitutes 64% to the

wireless revenue. What was it one year ago? 59%. So, over a year’s time in the four

quarters we have moved 500 basis points as a contribution coming from GSM and data

to the overall wirelessrevenues. It’s happening because sometime in the middle of last

year we changed course, we aligned the go‐to‐marketstrategy purely spectrum led, we

divided the Indian markets from a GSM construct basis into 3G metro, 3G lit markets,

and non 3G markets. We also identified our positioning with respect to revenue market

share and customer market share, what our pricing needs to be, what our branding

elements have to be, and what our organizational capabilities and distribution

franchisee needs to be. So, we have put the entire marketing mix and go‐to‐market

elements differently for all the three boxes and continued to pursue our traction in the

market. I am very happy to share that it is beginning to pay off. So, that is one result of

the fact that our GSM and data revenue contribution from being 59% to the wireless a

year ago now stands at 64%, and quarter on quarter we are seeing thisshare go up. We

visualize that this will continue to be the significant part of our revenue and our growth

engine. We had consciously taken a call about 4 months ago and said that we are going

to convertthe CDMA network to a high speed data network by being a dominant player

in the wireless broadband access large screen format market, which is largely dongles,

and make a sincere effort, now thatthe chipsettechnology has enormously changed,to

bring the branded handsetsinto the CDMA smart phones. In that pursuit we firsttied up

with Lenovo and we are ready to launch a couple of models this quarter, and you will

see ourinitiativestaking place with HTC, we are making our efforts with BlackBerry, and

you willsee us making a number of more announcementsin developing the ecosystem

of our CDMA handsets. What’s good about the CDMA device ecosystem is that it is

coming as a C+G, CDMA plus GSM, and in future we do not rule out the possibility of

rolling out HSD+GSM‐CDMA phones, or dual core phones. Our idea is to lower our

dependence on pure play CDMA voice customers and going forward we wantto convert

the CDMA usage to high speed data or dongles and smart phones, hence we will be

undertaking a lot of migration plans which we are already doing, converting CDMA

customerto GSM or within the CDMA upgrading them to the CDMA+GSM customer. So,

I am very happy to share that our change in the strategy is beginning to pay off, and it’s

just been a one full quarter of implementation as we started that in the September

October last year. So, last quarter it wasthe first full quarter impact. We are very‐very

overwhelmed with the response that we are getting.

[sougatadc 358]

Still facing problems.

Tata Exclusive Brand store (Company owned & Company operated) at Asansol, WB could not guide me. The one at my place (Bolpur) has been shut down already to curb expenditure. So, I've to visit nearest store (at Bardhaman, Durgapur or Asansol).

I've made up my mind to leave Tata. So, I approached the Asansol brand store where I was told that the basic necessity is the same both for porting out and converting into prepay. I've to clear both outstanding and unbilled amounts for that. As I've already cleared the outstanding bill the next day it was generated, the outstanding is zero. But as I use Tata2Tata free calling pack,and as I make a lot of on-net calls, my unbilled amout soars (which eventually comes down to minimum due to the free calling pack). When I visited the store, my unbilled amount was Rs. 1587 (this will surely increase every day). I asked if I'm required to clear the unbilled amount as well, what will be the fate of it when the final bill will be of much lower amount, and what about the unbilled amount getting higher after I clear it, and after creating the porting code still continue to use the phone and there will even more unbilled amounts. The executives present there could not give any solid answer.

I generated the porting code, paid an amount of my regular bill (my outstanding became negative of that amount as per the received sms & mail) and came out.

Nobody is there to guide, what a dismal condition of Tata!

[jewrajka 3]

OT: BTW Vikash ji what are you going to do with your Tata number? Are you going to stick to prepay or port out of the network? Only few days left.

For porting I have shortlisted reliance cug plan as well as idea cug plan .

Will be finalising within a few days which operator to port to.

Do u have any suggestion?

[igloo 1]

I think they have to send extra amt+security deposit via cheque within next 2month to your billing address acc to trai rules.

[sougatadc 358]

Do u have any suggestion?

I use MTS and I'm satisfied with its voice + data tariff on smartphone (Galaxy S3). Voice & data tariff is the cheapest among all. I don't know whether CUG is available from them or not.

I think they have to send extra amt+security deposit via cheque within next 2month to your billing address acc to trai rules.

Even if they go according to TRAI's rules, it is difficult to clear unbilled amount as this amount is getting increased as and when I'm using my phone (after clearing the unbilled amount). I generated the porting code while being at the Brand store and paid an average monthly billing amount. They are not sure whether the extra amount I pay as unbilled amount will be refunded along with the security or not (neither CC nor the Store people could give the answer). What to do?

[igloo 1]

Finally what you did with no port or prepaid? Just got interested.

[sujit_k 141]

For porting you need to clear only the last generated bill.

[arnuld 12]

Has anyone bought a new TATA DOCOMO CDMA (formerly TATA Indicomm) prepaid connection in Chennai. I am totally unable to get one here. you can get any any new CDMA/GSM connection in 2 ways:

1. you go to exclusive showroom/store
2. you go to a normal shopkeeper who sells connections

No shopkeeper in Chennai (at least the areas I have visited) keeps CDMA prepaid connections. Usually they don't have postpaid CDMA too. But everyone has TATA DOCOMO GSM connections. For exclusive store, look at the mail I have written to listen (at) tatadocomo (dot) com. Is there any 3rd way of getting a new connection ?

------------------------ mail begins ---------------------------------------

Dear Sirs,

I want to buy TAT DOCOMO CDMA pre-paid connection in Chennai, it is as difficult as finding an Alien. you may laugh but this is a serious commparison. None of the usual mobile shopkeepers/sellers have new CDMA connection (all of them have DOCOMO GSM connections to sell). Thereforem I went to 5 different show rooms (few major ones) and none of them have any CDMA pre-paid connection. I went to exclusive TATA DOCOMO showroom in:

TAMBARAM,
VELACHERY,
T. NAGAR,
THORAIPAKKAM
(5th one I forgot)

All of the stores say one and only one thing: "Sir, we don't have any pre-paid connection anymore. We sell only post-paid CDMA. If you want pre-paid CDMA, please call after 2/5 days and we will tell you."

And when I call after 2 or 5 days I get the same reply. It is going on for 3 months like this. So, can you tell me how to get a new pre-paid CDMA connection in Chennai ?


Thanks
Arnuld

---------------------------------- mail ends -----------------------------------

[ni0987 179]

^^^

because both TATA and DOCOMO are waiting for someone to buy their shares.

[Deepak Shankar 79]

Arnuld for cdma connection you can try Tata Docomo showroom in Whites road near the clock tower I guess that is the main office for Tata Docomo in Chennai visit them they should be able to help you on this

Here is there address for you No.9 Door No.1 Tansi Building, (Opp To Express Avenue) Whites Road Royapettah Chennai

044 6460 1141

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Tata Tele surrenders extra CDMA airwaves in 15 regions

Source

KOLKATA: Tata Teleservices, which has been battling losses amid intense competition and high debt, has surrendered its excess CDMA mobile airwaves in 15 regions, a move that sector analysts say could be aimed at pre-empting complications in any potential M&A deal involving the telecom arm of the Tata Group.

In a letter to the telecom department seen by ET, Tata Teleservices said it had concluded "the surrender of CDMA spectrum in all circles, wherein it had made a decision to do so within the timeframe" set by a Calcutta High Court order in August, this year.

Back in April, Tata Tele, which is 26 per cent owned by Japan's NTT DoCoMo, had told the government that it would surrender all airwaves beyond the 2.5 MHz start-up limit in 15 regions, with the exception of Delhi and Mumbai, where it would retain 3.75 units by paying the surcharge.

The company had then said its decision to return a large chunk of its CDMA bandwidth was aimed to protest the government's decision to slap a "one-time fee" on its frequencies. But the move had also signalled the telecom operator's diminishing faith in the future of the CDMA market in India - highlighted recently by the sector regulator itself.

"By retaining only start-up CDMA spectrum in the 800 MHz band, one won't have to pay any auction-linked price to retain any additional airwaves in a future M&A situation as the new rules mandate," said BK Syngal, ex-VSNL CMD, who is now senior principal at telecom consultancy, Dua Consulting.

Under the new telecom mergers & acquisitions rules, an operator will be entitled to only a block of spectrum which had been allotted at an administrative price, or without an auction process. The merged entity would need to pay the market price for any additional airwaves beyond that one block. Mahesh Uppal, director at Com First (India), agrees. "Surrender of excess CDMA spectrum beyond the 2.5 MHz start-up level gives Tata Tele greater preparedness for any M&A transaction and also reduces uncertain parameters, especially since there is no clarity yet on the market price of CDMA spectrum that would apply in any transaction," he said.

Tata Tele did not reply to ET's queries, especially whether the surrender of excess CDMA airwaves would help reduce its liabilities and eventually be a precursor to a potential sale or merger. Analysts, however, believe Tata Tele is a candidate for an M&A, though its weak financials and debt, make it an unattractive asset.

"Tele Tele is clearly in a crisis and I don't rule out any form of M&A activity, but that said, surrender of CDMA airwaves will generate savings for the beleaguered company by way of reduced spectrum usage charges," said Uppal.

In the last financial year, Tata Tele reportedly incurred a net loss of Rs4,858 crore on operating income of Rs10,799 crore and its debt, which stood at Rs23,491 crore on March 31 this year, has ballooned to Rs28,000 crore as of November this year on account of loans meant for working capital.