Sep 22, 2006 10:09 AM
1920 Views
I have read a few other reviews about the BSNL CellOne mobile service (postpaid), and I agree with most other reviewers that the BSNL billing service is much more comfortable, transparent, and user-friendly than its private competitors. The network coverage is good, although if you are in a area right in between two tower ranges, the quality is much worse than Reliance or Airtel. I myself have not yet used it in rural areas, but my friends who do use it there say that BSNL CellOne (apart from MTNL) is the only service that works in far flung villages. CellOne is also the best service as far as roaming charges, and incoming calls are concerned: Lowest roaming charges, and free incoming calls.
I have this service since a month, and am yet to experience any drop in service, or any harassment (which I am experiencing from Reliance, within 15 days of getting my NetConnect Card).
I have used the Call-Center hotline only once, when I wanted to know when the service will be activated. I got through within 2-3 minutes, and the operator was polite, and competent.
The major problem areas are distribution, activation time, and uncertainty about when additional services may be launched.
The process of applying for the service is cumbersome, full or red-tape and inconvenient. You can only apply at the BSNL headoffice in the city, unlike private operators, where you can get the connection from a number of sales-points across the city. It also takes a long time for getting activated. I had to wait more than a week after getting the SIM card for the service to get activated, and functional. Like most government schemes, BSNL takes forever to start new service. I hope they consider high speed internet connectivity and flat rate schemes sometime in this decade. Additionally, the One India plan could get even better (One Global India), if they make international connectivity available at cheaper payments than the ones they are currently demanding.
The above mentioned problems cause a serious dent in an otherwise great, transparent and reliable (as compared to reliance and co.) service, and therefore I can only give it a good. If BSNL works out the above mentioned problems then it definitely deserves all five stars.
