Review Written On:04th May 2005.Wednesday
Attention:Member's Requiring Specific Clarification on MTNL Delhi Prepaid Jeevan Saathi Life Time Scheme Please Read My Review on that in the MahAnasultangar Telephone Nigam Limited Section of Cellular Service Providers.
I was using Airtel’s Prepaid Mobile Service From 03/August/2002(along with my first cell phone instrument) to 03/August/2004, as MTNL Prepaid Service was not popular then& after which I discontinued the service as Mobile Calls became very costly after implementation of Access Deficit Charge Regime from 1st Feb 2004. Hence I was without a mobile phone From 03/08/2004 to 24/04/2005.
Also in Airtel Prepaid Service unless one Purchases a Rs 3350.00 Recharge Card having a 1 year validity the Processing Fees Deduction is Only Rs 300 while as for monthly recharges it is Rs 150/- Quite steep considering that for the Rs 150/- Deducted Per month one can use the PCO Booth to make STD Calls for 62.50 Minutes.
However except for the high call charges, roaming rentals and roaming calls, the Airtel Prepaid Service in New Delhi was Quite Reliable and error free and I had no complaints with it and roaming facility was also superb even in remote places like Kanniyakumari.
On 21/04/2005, I had gone to deposit my mtnl landline phone bill and upon a casual enquiry at the Mobile service counter at the Telephone Exchange, I was pleased to know that MTNL’s Trump Prepaid mobile Service pack was available across the counter. I returned home and after reading the reviews on MTNL’s Trump Prepaid mobile Service the Very Useful Review by Mouth Shut Member Dingrat& Xiona, I decided to try the service just for the sake of trying it and also as I was a very satisfied customer of MTNL’s Landline Service, especially their caller line identification Internet Service Named Internet Express.
My Landline has not given me a single breakdown in the past 7 years so MTNL’s Service can be said to commendable on this.
I also have a fancy and Liking for Govt Departments like Post Office, Railways, Bharatha Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Income Tax and I enjoy interacting with them, from time to time due to their babudom and lethargic work culture and also the no frills simplicity of the staff working in these offices.However my experience has been very good as these departments have more human values, consideration, and have fulfilled their social obligations to the masses in adverse and inhuman working conditions with much less aishwaryasingh23 and perks than the private sector who are interested in fleecing their customers in order to grow their balance sheet sizes and make their shareholder’s rich.Examples are Tata Indicom, Reliance Infocomm, Airtel India!
Coming Back to MTNL’s Trump Prepaid Service I on 25/04/2005, Bought the Prepaid SIM Card From MTNL’s Sanchar Haat after filling the Required Forms and Attaching the Identity& Address Proof and PAN Copies. I was allowed to chose any number from a List of 17 Numbers and got my lucky no.The Behaviour of the MTNL Sanchar Haat Staff was very Good, and customer Friendly belying all Doubts that this was a Govt Deptt. Loading the SIM was Hassle Free and immediately my phone was registered as INA 68 on the MTNL GSM Network with Full 4 Bars of Signal Available all 24 hours.A SMS Message the next minute informed me that I had Rs 150/- of Talk time free, with every new connection which is a absolute bargain with 15 Days Validity Limit.
Members Please note that I live just opposite to the Karol Bagh Telephone Exchange central Delhi and hence full signal from BTS is available.I made my 1st Call to Madurai, to inform about the new no’s and the connection was crystal clear with no voice cracks or disturbance and billing is error free as written by other members also.I sent SMS messages locally all at 0.50 ps and all were delivered error free.However one National Message failed to get delivered mainly due to problem at the other end.
The service in other Parts of the city like munirka, green park, nehru place is also good with 3 bar of signal always available even far away from the exchange tower’s. The Biggest advantage is the affordability of service as all outgoing local calls are @ Rs 1.50 per minute and STD @Rs 2.40 per minute comparable to any MTNL PCO and can be compared to MTNL’s Economy Rs 250.00 per month Landline service.
The Various Recharge Denominations of MTNL are Quite Generous like the Rs 550.00 Recharge Card giving Rs 400/- of Talk time and 60 days validity. But the Best is the Rs 2200.00 Recharge Card, having 1600.00 Talk time and Rs 396.37 as processing charges and rest Rs 203.63 as Service tax and educational cess with one year validity.Thereby Monthly Commitment is just Rs 183.33.No Other Landline or mobile Service Gives such freedom anywhere in India, with such low monthly cost, not even BSNL.
Hence if one just wants to be connected at all times and use the mobile for emergency and labour saving voicecalls and sms and not for doing long hours of Blah! Blah! Blah! Blah! Affordably, without any Frills, Extra features, Costs then MTNL Trump Prepaid is the way to go.
By the Success of the Service in the past 5 months since MTNL Restarted giving connections after expanding capacity, MTNL Trump Has a very Bright Future and With the onset of the Imminent Merger with BSNL, This Mobile Service would definitely be a Force to Reckon With by Private Players. Hence I would advise all new Prepaid mobile service buyer’s to opt for MTNL Trump prepaid Service as Long as SIM Card’s are available from MTNL Freely now.
This Situation may not last too long considering the demand of new connections.Once Purchased continue with the service irrespective of it’s quality.
Pros:Very Economical call Charges and Very Generous Recharge Options.Roaming Charges Made Nil by the Govt while roaming in BSNL Network. Cons:Coverage Ok within city limit, not tried outside the city. Network Quality:Good Network Up Most of the times, even if down is not a botheration due to low cost of calls. Billing:100% Accurate, No Hidden Charges or Abnormal Deductions Noticed. customer Service:Never needed Help so Far.
To Sum Up:A Affordable, Nonsense Free, No Frills, Pure vanilla type mobile service for the matured and a sober Person who also has a Liking towards Government Departments like myself and against Privatization.A Royal021tist Ideology!
Verdict:Will Continue this Service for ever without discontinuing it even if I have to change many mobile handsets in the next few years as long as I am able to make and receive calls& SMS or till the Govt Shuts it down by itself!
Updated: 03-Dec-2017 Sunday 23:09 hrs!
I still have my primary # of Dolphin as of 2005 given above! I ported my 3G 2010 Jadhoo USB Dolphin Dongle Internet # for WhatsApp to Vodafone in December 2013!
Since 15th June 2016 State of Dolphin GSM Network in Karol Bagh Central Delhi Area is as follows! From Dec 2017 the below mentioned problems have appeared even in Green Park Area of South Delhi in my Aunt's Phone!
In all Rooms of my house 1/2 kms from Tower 2G pure voice sms Network is 100% dead! I Can't receive or send SMS OTP's in time!
Phone will lose Tower Signal by itself for long hours without the user knowing it& callers will get phone is switched off or out of coverage area! This problem is also OTG On 2G!
Only 3G Works in 2 Rooms of my home& not in my Room where PC is kept for netbanking! For 3G Upgraded to a smartphone Samsung J1 4G VoLTE on advise of Dolphin GSM BTS Engineer but problem solved 75% only! 3 phones bought on 1 day 23-Feb-2017 @ Rs 6, 900 each to continue with misplaced Patriotism in supporting a Sham loss making Company!
So my primary phone kept far away in another room of my parents where 3G Tower Signal comes to receive OTP& SMS alerts!
But call clarity, SMS sending speed, 3G Internet speed, is H+ upto 3.50 Mbps, Good/ok for basic work of G Mail, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook Lite! But the best is to use the 3G Dolphin SIM OTG where there are No Problems anywhere on 3G BSNL NW PAN India& in Delhi!
In billing& cost, transparency MTNL Dolphin Rocks! Didn't face a Single wrong deduction of even 1 Paise in 13 years& never had the need for customer care support in 12 years!
Sagely Advice: Users wishing to get new Dolphin prepaid SIM in Delhi buy it only if you are like me as described in the Review& you can get a Rs 25 new connection from MTNL!
MTNL doesn't sell Full Size+Micro+Nano(3-in-1 SIM's) for new connections! Only full size feature phone SIM's! In 2015 for my Aunt I got a full size SIM for Rs 127(Tariff Plan Type)& after its initial tariff plan expiry got it exchanged to Micro SIM in 2016 for Rs 30 @ MTNL Sanchar Haat!
You will need to get the new Full Size SIM cut or upgraded it to Micro SIM after sim activation the next day by aishwaryasingh23ing additional Rs 30. MTNL Doesn't sell/have Nano SIM @ all! Crooked Draconianian govt rules!
Buy Dolphin only if you can afford a Touch Smartphone of Samsung J2 2017 4G VoLTE or the least Micromax Bharatha 1 4G VoLTE Feature Phone V407 which supports 3G& 2G also.Costs Rs 2, 400 on Snapdeal as of 04-Dec-2017.
If you can't get a Rs 25 MTNL SIM or can't afford the Bharatha 1 then buy a Airtel or Vodafone Prepaid SIM& insert it in any 2G handset of your choice for basic voice& SMS use!
Between the 2, I prefer& use Vodafone as Secondary GSM # since 2010.
In billing like Dolphin GSM, Vodafone though costly is very transparent& didn't activate a single VAS or deduct money from my SIM!
Updated:18-May-2018 I've ported out all my& my family's Dolphin Prepaid No's to Vodafone& my first Dolphin prepaid # of 2005 on 04/10-May-2018 for which the above review was written as MTNL 2G& 3G both have reached a point of no return in my Central Delhi Area!
MTNL has adopted my sagely advice& is now offering Rs 25+49 prepaid SIM'S in their Sanchar Haats!
Swami Aniruddha!
