Express yourself... REALLY??. Review on Airtel Mobile Operator

I don't know what guys at Airtel are smoking but whatever it is I want it too.. because only after that I would be able to say that AIRTEL is the best when it comes to Internet, its not that they are best in other services too... but thats all a different issue.

I am writing this only to caution others from buying Airtel GPRS sim-card which claims to provide fastest internet service in your homes.

Ok this is how it all started so please tolerate me. I sold my old mobile to get the latest and trendy GPRS cell phone. Well after spending 18000 rupees I was ready to take advantage of the latest technology , the next level in internet service... BOY!! was I excited?? the only thought to get rid of 56 k modem and all those phone lines hanging around my pc, and the freedom to use my mobile as a modem no matter where I am.. was so thrilling.

Then I came to know that only a GPRS handset is not enough because I need an internet port to get connected. SO I spent another 1400 rupees to buy a decent infra-red port for my cell-phone. Now it was time to buy the latest AIRTEL sim card exclusively made for internet surfing. It cost me another 650 rupees. But its ok because latest technology (i mean the best) doesnt come cheap. isn't it?

So after all the hassles it took folks at AIRTEL SIX days to get my internet service up and running (i wonder if they were putting an extra AIRTEL- TOWER somewhere just for me?) anyways after hundreds of phone calls at customer care.. you know funny thing is that sometimes it feels as if same person changes his voice over and over again when you call at customer care for more then 5 times.. I mean one person talking in both male and female voice.. tehehee or maybe its just me who is so silly... anyways back to main issue.

SO after numerous calls and bitching and sending threatning calls (i even threatned to run naked in there office if they didn't fix my problem soon) I was successfully connected to internet. And SWEET GOD ALMIGHTY I was surfing internet at speed of 533 bytes/s WHAT?? wait a minute... am I really insane or its just that my pc is so screwed.

Another day passed and I made all the necessary adjustments. My friend who is in networking by profession did all he could to make my internet connection faster but all in vain. I called Airtel customer care yet again... (trust me nowadays I have nightmares about people from customer care chasing me) but they couldn't help me because the lady with seductive voice didn't even know difference between bytes and kilobytes! hmmmm....

Even today I feel very lucky if see my internet connection topping 1 kb/s.

Well it took me atleast 15 to 20 minutes just to get to the registration page of mouthshut.com and I have to wait atleast 15 minutes daily for checking my mails at yahoo. ( hotmail...?? dont you even dare think about it) Hell even my old granny is much faster then AIRTEL internet service even though she can't stand straight for more then a minute.

To talk about bringing revolution in information technology is a joke when you can't even provide basic internet services at domestic levels. But in a country where food and clothing are still the prior issues expecting cutting edge facilities will be asking for too much. But still I was hoping for a good start and I am really disappointed. So when my friends in America talk about 64 and 128 kb connections,video chats and video confrencing and online gaming I can't help but feel jealous. Why can't we have all that ? is it too tough to implement it or we just dont care what people want? As every year passes by my expectations only get higher but still I see no hope. Now Reliance offering 1200 rupees per month member ship for surfing at there exclusive web-worlds.. internet is still a luxury for comman man.

So my suggestion is that STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM IT?? or if you still don't get it you need to get admit in some mental institution. GOD SAVE YOU ALL.

(my experince with AIRTEL is based on service provided in my city which could be different in other cities)