If we need proof enough about the growing market of GSM mobiles, you just have to check out the various “plans”. Each one seems to be tempting than the other; all kinds of charges thrown in; free this and free that; daily rentals; the billing cycles;monthly plans; monthly plan rentals; phew!
My travails started when my trusty Nokia handset went kaput. I believe, my dog had a role to play in it. Specially when he just revels in chewing it to bits. It outlived all the horrors subjected to it and one fine day it just went dead like a BSNL landline. After frantic efforts, I managed to get it powered on and retrieve my address book. That was when the whole issue came in focus.
For long, I have bet on CDMA; never faced any issue of congestion or call drops. It is one of the cheapest mode of communication while roaming. Thanks to Reliance’s widespread reach. Plus of course, rock bottom tariffs and simplistic plans. I was a satisfied customer. However, it was a BIG issue when the GSM phones started their marketing onslaught. Ring tones have been a BIG hit in recent times. Reliance favoured poorly. Then finding a Reliance customer was statistically insignificant. Almost everyone I knew has GSM phones. Another factor that weighed in prominently was the free SMS. For a nominal amount, I could go on a messaging binge. SMS definitely is expensive in Reliance.
I mustered up enough courage to explore the various possibilities. Airtel has a crappy office in my city; minimal attention to details and none of the “executives” seemed to be interested in spelling out plans. I gave it up in disgust. Hutch has excellent showromm ambience with pink splashed over. I have no idea as to why are they obessed with the pink tongued pug. However, I wasn’t happy with the way the plans were communicated. The person telling me didn’t have any clear idea as to help me to choose plans according to my needs. Hutch seems to have a lot of hidden charges; postpaid to prepaid migration is a pain in the wrong place. Hutch too ran out of contention.
Argubaly, BSNL has the cheapest GSM service. However, I am not a brave person; I decided not to explore the government service at all. There are enough stories doing the rounds that SMS’s move at snail’s pace. Clearly, BSNL is a company stepped back in time.
Finally, I settled in for Spice. Perhaps, it was the discounted “corporate” scheme which made calling within the group free of cost. Further, discounted calling rates to other mobiles and SMS pack. It comes with all the frills what the “rivals” are offering.
Still, the big hassle is multiplicity of plans. If the GSM operators need to be taken seriously, they ought to have policies in place to communicate effectively. Including trained personnel who have the ability to spell out everything clearly. I was absolutely aghast when the Airtel “executive” claimed that GPRS speeds touches 115kbps. Well, no point in arguing about the “ideal case scenario”. But then, they did palm off a sucker who wanted to invest in mobile wireless.
There are enough of them to keep the companies in business for a long time.
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